A recent survey by Hyundai Research Institute on Koreans’ perception of class membership is a must read for presidential candidates, as it suggests policies that will help them capture the hearts and minds of the largest segment of the electorate ― the middle class.
The survey’s title sums up its findings ― “The confidence of the middle class is crumbling.” In many countries, middle class families are under siege due to the prolonged global economic slump. Yet the survey shows Korean middle class households have an excessively pessimistic outlook.
One major finding of the survey is a puzzlingly wide disconnect between Korean middle class families’ perception of their class status and their actual membership based on disposable income.
According to the survey, people who described themselves as poor accounted for 50.1 percent, while those who classified themselves as middle class were fewer than half ― 46.4 percent. A mere 1.9 percent self-identified as upper class.
These numbers do not match with the real situation. In 2011, the poor ― defined as households whose income was less than 50 percent of the median income ― actually accounted for 15.2 percent of Korean households, less than one third of the figure offered by the survey.
The middle class ― households that earned 50 percent to 150 percent of the median income ― took up 64 percent of the total population, about 18 percentage points higher than its share in the survey.
Households with income above 150 percent of the median stood at 20.8 percent, more than 10 times higher than the survey figure.
The large mismatch between class identification and actual class status is not easy to understand or explain, even taking into consideration that Koreans generally tend to underestimate their class status.
The survey suggests that many people in the middle class have lost confidence in themselves as they find it increasingly difficult to pay the bills amid a drawn-out global economic crisis and a continued downturn of the Korean economy.
According to the survey, while life has become tough for people in all age groups, those in their 50s showed a particularly strong tendency to identify themselves with lower class due to their anxiety resulting from retirement and subsequent income reduction.
A pessimistic outlook also underlies another unexpected finding. It says a whopping 98.1 percent of the respondents doubt that they will have a chance of climbing up the social ladder.
As reasons for this skepticism, they cited “deepening polarization,” “continuing economic slump,” “the lack of decent jobs,” “excessive household debt,” “unfair opportunities” and “unpreparedness for old age.”
This view depicts Korea as an almost closed society. It is not an accurate portrayal, given that education and other vehicles for social mobility still operate. While it is true that upward mobility has declined in Korea due to its transition from a high-growth economy to a low-growth one, it is not as closed as the survey suggests.
But the important point is that an overwhelming majority of Koreans view their country that way. This is worrisome indeed as a society cannot generate the energy and vitality it needs when almost all its members feel there is little room for upward mobility.
The middle class is the backbone of society. If it remains depressed or contracts, it will harm social unity and deter economic growth. On the contrary, if the middle class prospers or expands, it will enhance social cohesion and promote economic growth.
The survey thus sends a resounding message to presidential candidates: Middle class families are in need of assistance and a morale boost.
The winner of the December election will have to prop up the middle class by devising measures tailored to each age group ― job creation for young people, reducing housing costs for people in their 30s, lowering educational expenses for those in their 40s and helping with post-retirement life for senior citizens.
