Youth unemployment in South Korea

[2] More specifically, the total youth unemployment rate between ages 15 and 29 rose from 7.9% in 2001 to 9.8% in 2016, whilst rising from 6.1% to 9.2% amongst 25-29 year olds.

[4] The youth in South Korea prefer high education to increase and develop their employability in the labor market rather than seeking jobs, which leads them to become inactive.

[4] The reaffirming factors that reduce the chance of employment include: socioeconomic status, household characteristics, and family income.

[7] With the recent overabundance of high school and college graduates,[8] the requirements of the labor market mismatch the skills provided by the education system.

[9] Poor school-business networks, insufficient employment service infrastructure, and asymmetric labor market information[4] also result in limited possibilities for combining study and work.

[11] Suneung is held every year in November, and the test is said to determine which university a student will attend, as well as future employment and wages.

[12][11] In 2016, around 3.34 million degree holders in South Korea had delayed entering the job market in order to seek higher education or find other full-time employment opportunities.

[13] As a result of investment in private education to test well in Su-neung, domestic consumption has dropped for the middle class in Korea,[14] causing a strain in the economy.

In South Korea, the number one cause of death for youth between the ages of 10 and 30 years old is suicide.

[12][17] Low fertility and an aging population are predicted to reduce tax revenue in the future, which would burden South Korea's welfare system and universal healthcare.

Should the issue remain unaddressed, high costs of education and low fertility will further decrease South Korean domestic consumption, which will lead to slower economic growth.

[9] Labor market rigidities including inflexible wages, high non-wage costs and employment protection also cause youth unemployment.

[19] Youth are also disadvantaged in entering the labor market as they compete with older employees with job experience, which makes graduates vulnerable to macroeconomic cyclical depressions, leading to high youth unemployment as well as higher precariousness in transitioning from school to work.