Korea

Did You Know?

Population
48.6
mil.
Visitors per year
6.9
mil.
Renewable energy
1.58
%

How’s Life?

Korea performs moderately well in overall measures of well-being, as shown by the fact that it ranks higher than average in several topics in the Better Life Index.

Money, while it cannot buy happiness, is an important means to achieving higher living standards. In Korea, the average household earned 16 254 USD in 2008, less than the OECD average .

In terms of employment, nearly 63% of people aged 15 to 64 in Korea have a paid job. People in Korea work 2256 hours a year, much higher than the OECD average of 1739 hours and the highest rate in the OECD. 60% of mothers are employed after their children begin school, suggesting that women are able to successfully balance family and career.

Having a good education is an important requisite to finding a job. In Korea, 79% of adults aged 25 to 64 have earned the equivalent of a high-school diploma, higher than the OECD average. Korea is an exceptionally well-performing country in terms of the quality of its educational system. The average student scored 539 out of 600 in reading ability according to the latest PISA student-assessment programme, the strongest performance in the OECD.

In terms of health, life expectancy at birth in Korea is 80 years, slightly above the OECD average. The level of atmospheric PM10 – tiny air pollutant particles small enough to enter and cause damage to the lungs – is 31 micrograms per cubic meter, and is much higher than levels found in most OECD countries.

Concerning the public sphere, there is a moderate sense of community and civic participation in Korea. 80% of people believe that they know someone they could rely on in a time of need, one of the lowest rates in the OECD where the average is 91%. Voter turnout, a measure of public trust in government and of citizens' participation in the political process, was 63% during recent elections; this figure is lower than the OECD average of 72%. In regards to crime, only 2% of people reported falling victim to assault over the previous 12 months.

When asked, 36% of people in Korea said they were satisfied with their life, much lower than the OECD average of 59%.

These findings are based on data from 2008 or later.

Topics

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Korea in Detail

Housing

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Key Findings

In many OECD countries, home ownership is an important dimension of individual well-being. It protects owners from fluctuations in rents and ensures families a stable and secure shelter. Additionally, the value of a property represents a major source of wealth for households. According to data collected from 23 OECD countries, nearly 67% of occupied dwellings in the OECD are inhabited by the owners themselves.

In addition to measuring home ownership rates, it is also important to examine living conditions, such as the average number of rooms shared per person and whether households have access to basic facilities.

The number of rooms in a dwelling, divided by the number of persons living there, indicates whether residents are living in crowded conditions. Overcrowded housing may have a negative impact on physical and mental health, relations with others and the development of children. In addition, dense living conditions are often a sign of inadequate water and sewage supply. In Korea, the average home contains 1.3 rooms per person, less than the OECD average of 1.6 rooms per person. In terms of basic facilities, 7.5% of dwellings in Korea lack private access to indoor flushing toilets, much more than the OECD average of 2.8% dwellings.

Indicators

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Income

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Key Findings

While money may not buy happiness, it is an important means to achieving higher living standards and thus greater well-being. Higher economic wealth may also improve access to quality education, healthcare and housing.

Household net-adjusted disposable income is the amount of money that a household earns each year after tax. It represents the money available to a household for spending on goods or services. In Korea, the average household net-adjusted disposable income is 16 254 USD a year, lower than the OECD average of 22 284 USD.

Household financial wealth is the total value of a household’s financial worth. In Korea, the average household wealth is estimated at 23 671 USD, lower than the OECD average of 36 808 USD. While the ideal measure of household wealth should include real assets (e.g. land and dwellings), such information is currently available for only a small number of OECD countries.

Indicators

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Jobs

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Key Findings

Having a job brings many important benefits, including: providing a source of income, improving social inclusion, fulfilling one’s own aspirations, building self-esteem and developing skills and competencies. In Korea, nearly 63% of the working-age population aged 15 to 64 has a paid job. This figure is slightly lower than the OECD employment average of 65%.

Unemployed persons are defined as those who are not currently working but are willing to do so and actively searching for work. Long-term unemployment can have a large negative effect on feelings of well-being and self-worth and result in a loss of skills, further reducing employability. In Korea, the percentage of the labour force that has been unemployed for a year or longer is currently at 0.01%, the lowest rate in the OECD.

Indicators

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Community

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Key Findings

Humans are social creatures. The frequency of our contact with others and the quality of our personal relationships are thus crucial determinants of our well-being.

A strong social network, or community, can provide emotional support during both good and bad times as well as provide access to jobs, services and other material opportunities. In Korea, 80% of people believe that they know someone they could rely on in a time of need, one of the lowest figures in the OECD. Nearly 42% reported having helped a stranger in the last month, close to the OECD average however.

A weak social network can result in limited economic opportunities, a lack of contact with others, and eventually, feelings of isolation. Socially isolated individuals face difficulties integrating into society as a contributing member and fulfilling personal aspirations. Nearly 8% of people in Korea reported ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ spending time with friends, colleagues or others in social settings; this figure is close to the OECD average.

Indicators

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Education

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Key Findings

A well-educated and well-trained population is essential for a country’s social and economic well-being. Education plays a key role in providing individuals with the knowledge, skills and competences needed to participate effectively in society and in the economy. Most concretely, having a good education greatly improves the likelihood of finding a job and earning enough money. Across OECD countries, men with university-level degrees are 16% more likely to find jobs, and women are 30% more likely. Lifetime earnings also increase with each level of education.

Following a decline in manual labour over previous decades, employers now favour a more educated labour force. High-school graduation rates therefore provide a good indication of whether a country is preparing its students to meet the minimum requirements of the job market. In Korea, 79% of adults aged 25-64 have earned the equivalent of a high-school degree, higher than the OECD average of 73%. Among younger people – a better indicator of Korea’s future – 98% of 25-34 year-olds have earned the equivalent of a high-school degree, much higher than the OECD average of 80% and the highest in the OECD. Koreans have notably put a high emphasis on the value of education.

But graduation rates, while important, speak little to the quality of education received. The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reviews the extent to which students have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in modern societies. In 2009, PISA focused on examining students’ reading ability, as research shows that reading skills are more reliable predictors of economic and social well-being than the number of years spent in school.

Korea is an exceptionally well-performing OECD country in reading literacy, with the average student scoring 539 out of 600. This score is higher than the OECD average of 493, making Korea the strongest OECD country in reading skills. Additionally, certain students performed exceptionally well in mathematics with more than 26% reaching the two highest levels of proficiency, and in science with more than 11% reaching the two highest levels of proficiency.

Indicators

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Environment

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Key Findings

Outdoor air pollution is one important environmental issue that directly affects the quality of peoples’ lives. Air pollution in urban centres, often caused by transport and the use of small-scale burning of wood or coal, is linked to a range of health problems, from minor eye irritation to upper respiratory symptoms in the short-term and chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma, cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer in the long-term. Children and the elderly may be particularly vulnerable.

PM10 – tiny particulate matter small enough to be inhaled into the deepest part of the lung – is monitored in OECD countries because it can harm human health and reduce life expectancy. In Korea, PM10 levels are 30.8 micrograms per cubic meter, higher than the OECD average of 22 micrograms per cubic meter.

Indicators

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Governance

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Key Findings

A cohesive society is one where citizens have a high degree of confidence in their governmental institutions and public administration. Only 41% of people in Korea say they trust their political institutions, one of the lowest rates in the OECD area. High voter turnout is another measure of public trust in government and of citizens' participation in the political process. In the most recent elections for which data is available, voter turnout in Korea was 63% of those registered. This figure is lower than the OECD average of 72%.

Ensuring that government decision making is not compromised by conflicts of interest is key to maintaining trust in government. Transparency is therefore essential to hold government to account and to maintain confidence in public institutions.

Freedom of information laws (FOI) allows the possibility for individuals to access undisclosed information. For such policies to be successful, the public should have a clear understanding of their rights under the law, should be able to file requests with ease and should be protected against any possible retaliation. People in Korea can file a request for information either in writing, online, by telephone or in person – thus greatly facilitating the FOI process. However, there are no provisions for anonymity or protection from retaliation.

Indicators

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Health

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Key Findings

Most OECD countries have enjoyed large gains in life expectancy over the past decades, thanks to improvements in living conditions, public health interventions and progress in medical care. Among OECD countries, Korea registered the greatest gain in life expectancy between 1960 and 2008, with an overall increase in longevity of 28 years, rapidly closing the gap with the average across OECD countries. In 1960, life expectancy in Korea was 16 years below the OECD average. By 2008, it stood at 79.9 years, nearly one year above the OECD average of 79 years.

Higher life expectancy is generally associated with higher healthcare spending per person, although many other factors have an impact on life expectancy (such as living standards, lifestyles, education and environmental factors). Total health spending accounted for 6.5% of GDP in Korea in 2008, the third lowest share among OECD countries, and 2.5 percentage points lower than the OECD average of 9.0%. Health spending tends to rise with income, and generally OECD countries with higher GDP per person also tend to spend more on health. It is not surprising, therefore, that Korea also ranks below the OECD average in terms of health expenditure per person, with spending of 1801 USD in 2008, compared with an OECD average of 3060 USD.

Health expenditure per person has, nonetheless, increased rapidly in Korea since the second half of the 1980s when the national health insurance was established. During the 1990s, the rate of growth in health spending has been two-times greater than the average across OECD countries. This trend continued between 2000 and 2008, when the growth rate in health spending in Korea reached 8.0% per year, compared with an OECD average of 4.2%. This was the second highest growth rate in OECD countries, after the Slovak Republic. The increase in health spending in Korea over the past decade or so has been driven mainly by a rapid rise in public spending on health, especially in the purchase of pharmaceuticals.

Throughout the OECD, tobacco consumption and excessive weight gain remain two important risk factors for many chronic diseases.

In Korea, there remains a huge gender gap in smoking rates between men and women: 44.7% of Korean men reported smoking every day in 2008, the second highest rate across all OECD countries after Greece, compared with only 7.2% of women, which was the lowest rate.

Obesity rates in Korea are among the lowest in the OECD, but have been increasing steadily. About 4% of the adult population is obese in Korea, and about 30% are overweight (including obese). Furthermore, large socio-economic disparities in obesity exist in women in Korea. Women with poor education are 5 times more likely than more educated women to be overweight. Virtually no disparities exist between men of different educational levels. OECD projections indicate that overweight rates will increase by a further 5% within ten years. Obesity’s growing prevalence foreshadows increases in the occurrence of health problems (such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and asthma), and higher health care costs in the future.

When asked, "How is your health in general?", 44% of people in Korea reported to be in good health, much lower than the OECD average of 69%. Despite the subjective nature of this question, the answers have been found to be a good predictor of people’s future health care use.

Indicators

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Life Satisfaction

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Key Findings

Happiness can be measured in terms of life satisfaction, the presence of positive experiences and feelings, and the absence of negative experiences and feelings. Such measures, while subjective, are a useful complement to compare the quality of life across countries.

For Korea, like throughout much of the OECD, self-reported life satisfaction has been rising over the last decade. In recent polling, 36% were satisfied with their life but 60% believe that their life will be satisfying five years later. Future expectations represent nearly a doubling in life satisfaction – the largest increase in the OECD.

62% of people in Korea reported having more positive experiences in an average day (feelings of rest, pride in accomplishment, enjoyment, etc) than negative ones (pain, worry, sadness, boredom, etc). This figure is lower than the OECD average of 72%.

Indicators

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Safety

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Key Findings

Personal security is a core element for the well-being of individuals, and largely reflects the risks of people being physically assaulted or falling victim to other types of crime. Across the OECD, victimisation rates for conventional crime (theft, robbery, assault) have declined in the new millennium. In Korea, only 2% of people reported falling victim to assault over the previous 12 months, lower than the OECD average of 4%.

The homicide rate (the number of murders per 100,000 inhabitants) is a more reliable measure of a country’s safety level because, unlike other crimes, murders are usually always reported to the police. According to the latest OECD data, Korea’s homicide rate is 2.3, close to the OECD average.

Indicators

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Work-Life Balance

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Key Findings

Finding a suitable balance between work and life is a challenge for all workers, especially working parents. Some couples would like to have (more) children, but do not see how they could afford to stop working. Other parents are happy with the number of children in their family, but would like to work more. This is a challenge to governments because if parents cannot achieve their desired work/life balance, not only is their welfare lowered but so is development in the country.

In Korea, an estimated 60% of mothers are employed after their children begin school; this figure is close to the OECD average of 66% and suggests that mothers are able to successfully balance family and career.

Another important aspect of work-life balance is the amount of time a person spends at work. Evidence suggests that long work hours may impair personal health, jeopardize safety and increase stress. People in Korea work 2256 hours a year, the highest rate in the OECD and much higher than the OECD average of 1739 hours.

The more people work, the less time they have to spend on other activities, such as time with others or leisure. The amount and quality of leisure time is important for people’s overall well-being, and can bring additional physical and mental health benefits. People in Korea devote 64% of their day, or 15.5 hours, to personal care (eating, sleeping, etc.) and leisure (socializing with friends and family, hobbies, games, computer and television use, etc.) – close to the OECD average.

Data for employees working very long hours and employment rate of women with children in Korea rely on OECD estimates. These figures will be updated as official information becomes available.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Too few babies and too little female employment

At 1.15 children per woman, Korea’s total fertility rate in 2009 was the lowest in the OECD. The decline in the fertility rate is mainly explained by married women having fewer children – families with three or more children have become rare in Korea - and a rise in the number of single women. Simply put, Korean women who are more educated, have jobs, and live in cities are likely to put off marriage.

In addition to the low fertility rate, the female employment rate was also low at 52.2% in 2009, well below the OECD average of 59.6%. Korea has the dual challenge of promoting female labour market participation and increasing fertility rates.  Korea's workplace practices (long working hours, socializing after work, little leave) make it difficult for parents to combine work and family life. After high private investments in education, many young Koreans first want to establish themselves in the regular employment before having children. However, once Korean women who have left the labour force to care for children, wish to return to work, they often end up in non-regular employment which is often low paid, part-time, and temporary. So if they can afford it, mothers will stay at home rather than return to a low-quality job. The result is too few babies and too little female employment, at a time when Korea needs more women in employment as its working age population is aging.

With female educational attainment levels now surpassing those of men, and with projected declines in the labour force, Korea's economy needs to make a more efficient use of its investment in human capital to keep its economic engine going. However, with less than 1% of GDP allocated to family benefits, Korea is the OECD country with the lowest public expenditure on family benefits. Korea should further develop its paid childcare system to help working parents with the cost of young children. Additionally, Korea's fathers should do more work at home to facilitate more women to be in work. In sum, there should be a greater role for flexible working-time arrangements, part-time employment opportunities, and performance-related pay to help Koreans better reconcile work and family life.

Indicators

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