Food, accommodation and transportation costs account for 70 percent of the monthly living expenses of young Koreans, according to a study by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs published Tuesday.
KIHASA studied 3,018 households of people aged 19 to 34. Some 761 were single households and 1,677 consisted of a young person living with his or her parents. The rest were married couples or extended families.
The average monthly living costs of young singles were W1.36 million, with food accounting for 36.9 percent (W502,000), lodging for 23.6 percent (W321,000) and transportation for 10 percent (W136,000) (US$1=W1,197).
Their average income was W2.43 million a month.
The average assets of young singles were W49.9 million, while their debt stood at W6.4 million, W3.22 million of it related to housing.
Singles’ spending was on the whole lower than that of young people living with their parents, but living expenses accounted for a large proportion of spending.
A KIHASA researcher said, “The living conditions of young people who live alone are generally worse, and the government needs to strengthen support for them”.
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