Meet the typical South Korean

millennial: educated, overqualified for

the job market, and part of the 'kangaroo
tribe' that can't afford to leave their
parents' homes
MatthewLoh and Reena Koh 
Jun 12,2023,7:45AMGMT+7

At 28, Kwon Joonyeop is the kind of guy most Korean

teenagers want to become.

Kwon graduated in 2022 from Yonsei University, a top college where he swam on the
varsity team and earned a double degree in physical education and public administration. He
lives in Gangnam — Seoul's glitzy city center — in a four-room apartment that his family has
owned for generations.

He works as a data analyst at a multinational tech firm in a country where stable, white-collar

jobs are glorified as the key to a good life. On weekends, he competes in swimming competitions

and is set to represent Seoul in under-30 tournaments.

But like most young and unmarried South Koreans, he lives with his parents, and despite earning

more than the national average, he won't even consider buying his own home for the next 10

years. If he saves enough, maybe he can afford a car by then, he said.

"It feels a bit hopeless, like we are the damned ones," Kwon said.

Hong Seo-yoon, 36, manages a nonprofit for disabled rights in Korea and runs advocacy classes

at Seoul National University in her spare time for around $3,700 a month. She's worked as an
anchor at the Korean Broadcasting System and as the founder of multiple NGOs. Hong, who

uses a wheelchair, also sits on the board of several Korean nonprofits for disability access.

She spent her life savings and took out a hefty loan to buy her first home in Seoul — a 600-

square-foot apartment built 30 years ago — for $300,000 in 2019. Now, though, with her current

salary and mortgage interest piling up, Hong told Insider she's worried about her financial future.

Kwon and Hong belong to Generation MZ, a collective term for South Korea's millennials and

Gen Zers, who often get grouped together for their digital fluency and outlook on life.

Generation MZ — anyone born between 1980 and 2005 — accounts for almost a third of

the country's population of around 52 million people.

It makes up Korea's most educated generation and is the country's first youth generation known

for speaking up about social issues and the climate.

Generation MZ is also characterized by intense financial anxiety, as young Koreans like Hong

and Kwon see their life goals drifting further away while housing, transportation, and education

prices reach record highs.

Insider spoke with five South Koreans of Generation MZ, as well as finance and generational

experts, to gain a better understanding of the generation. 

Only 12.7% of Generation MZ singles and 36.6% MZ married couples are homeowners,

according to data from Statistics Korea, the government Census agency.

By comparison, 47.8% of US millennials own homes, per an analysis of 2020 Census data by

Apartment List. US millennials comprise an older age range of 27- to 42-year-olds.

That's not to say Koreans don't want to own homes. A 2020 survey of 2,889 Koreans in their 20s

found that nearly 95% think purchasing a house is essential. Kwon, the data analyst, said owning

property is enshrined as a sign of status for most Koreans.

But Kwon, who makes $60,000 a year, doesn't know if he'll ever buy his own house.

"In terms of my limit, if I'm not married, maybe I'll move out and rent a place when I'm 35 or

36," Kwon said. He said he saves 70% of his income by staying with his parents.

The average home sale price in Seoul was $876,215 in 2022, compared to average salaries of

$26,600 to $37,660 for Koreans between the ages of 25 to 39, the Ministry of Employment and

Labor has reported.

With soaring housing costs and rising bank interest rates, many young and unmarried South

Koreans don't have the funds to seriously consider being homeowners. The Korea Financial

Times reported that middle-income households can afford only 2.6% of the houses in Seoul. 

It's why they call themselves the "kangaroo tribe," a reference to baby kangaroos, or joeys,

known for being late to leave their mother's pouch. At least 42.5% of Generation MZ still live

with their parents, according to a 2022 report by Statistics Korea.

In Korea, it's socially acceptable to sacrifice one's independence for the practical gain of

avoiding rental costs.

For Hong, the nonprofit founder, surging rental prices pushed her to take the plunge and buy her

apartment with a loan. She didn't have the option of staying with her parents, who live in

Changwon, a city on Korea's southeastern coast, and rental costs were rising every week in 2019,

she said.

"I was so afraid that my landlord would keep asking me to increase the rental cost," she said.
In South Korea, annual college tuition averages around $5,000 a year, compared to an average

of $9,377 for in-state and $27,279 for out-of-state annual tuition in the US, according to the

Education Data Initiative. 

Less than 30% of college students in Korea are financing their education with student loans, Eyal

Victor Mamou, the CEO of the Korean consultancy Koisra, told Insider.

Park Min-jun, 25, is working on his master's degree; he rents a studio apartment in Seoul for

$6,000 a year and spends around $5,400 on tuition a year. His parents live in South Korea's

second-largest city, Busan, and support him with part of his expenses, he told Insider.

Most of Park's friends at his college, Seoul National University, receive cash from their parents

to tide them over while they study, he said.

"The student-loan problem in Korea is not as serious as in the US, where most college graduates

have to start their social lives with a heavy debt," Kim Seong-kon, a professor emeritus in

cultural studies and the former dean of international affairs at Seoul National University, told

Insider.

Park chips in by earning $1,100 a month waiting tables at a Korean barbecue restaurant, tutoring

undergraduate students, and working as a research assistant.

He's got enough left over to spend on occasional trips to nearby holiday locations like Jeju

Island, which is just a short flight from Seoul. He's currently saving up for a vacation to

Indonesia. "If we had student loans at US levels, that would cause social hysteria," he said. "It's

common for people to try to save up while in school."

As of February, the unemployment rate for people between 20 and 29 in South Korea was 7%,

according to a report by Statistics Korea. That's an increase of 1.2 percentage points from

January.

By comparison, the unemployment rate in the US for 25- to 34-year-olds was 3.9% in February,

according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.