Korean life satisfaction, lowest in OECD… big difference by income

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Statistical Office announces ‘2022 National Quality of Life Report’

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It was found that the life satisfaction of Koreans remains at the lowest level among OECD countries. The life satisfaction of the low-income class with an income of less than 1 million won was relatively low. Life satisfaction is one of the indicators of the ‘Better Life Index’ (BLI) compiled by the OECD, and is also an indicator used in the UN’s World Happiness Report (WHR).

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According to the ‘2022 National Quality of Life Report’ released by the National Statistical Office on the 20th, the average subjective life satisfaction in Korea between 2019 and 2021 was 5.9 points out of 10, ranking 36th out of 38 OECD countries. This is a score well short of the OECD average (6.7 points). There are only two OECD member countries with a lower quality of life than Korea: Colombia (5.8) and Turkey (4.7). On the other hand, the country with the highest life satisfaction was Finland (7.8 points).

Life satisfaction was lower in the lower income group. The satisfaction level of the low-income group with household income of less than 1 million won per month was only 5.5 points, and the satisfaction score (6.0 points) of those with an income of less than 1 million to 2 million won was below the overall average. This was followed by △2 million to 3 million won 6.1 points △3 million to 4 million won 6.3 points △4 million to 5 million won 6.3 points △5 million to 6 million won 6.5 points △6 million won or more 6.5 points.

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Looking at the main characteristics of each area, the rate of experiencing child abuse in 2021 recorded an all-time high of 502.2 per 100,000 children. This is a rapid increase of over 100 cases from 401.6 in 2020. It is continuously increasing from 17.7 cases per 100,000 people in 2001. It seems that the damage of child abuse has increased as the time to stay at home has increased due to the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) epidemic.

The extreme selection rate also deteriorated. In 2021, there were 26 per 100,000 people, an increase of 0.3 from a year ago (25.7). The rate of theater selection per 100,000 population showed a decreasing trend after soaring from 13.7 in 2000 to 31.7 in 2011, but returned to an upward trend after 2017. In recent years, the rate of extreme selection for those aged 40 or older is on the decline, while the rate for those in their teens and twenties is increasing.

Due to the low birth rate and aging population, the proportion of elderly people living alone (aged 65 or older) recorded 20.8% last year. It is continuously increasing, from 16% in 2000 to 17.3% in 2005, 18.5% in 2010, and 19.8% in 2020. Last year, the elderly population over the age of 65 was 9,018,000, a 2.7-fold increase since 2000 (3,394,000). Among them, the number of seniors living alone was 1,875,000 last year, a 3.5-fold increase from 2000 (543,000).

Source: Donga

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