OECD Better Life Index
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Howâs Life?

Korea performs well across a number of well-being dimensions relative to other countries in the Better Life Index. Korea outperforms the average in education, health and civic engagement. It underperforms average in environmental quality, social connections and life satisfaction. These assessments are based on available selected data.

Money, while it cannot buy happiness, is an important means to achieving higher living standards. In Korea, the average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is USD 24 590 a year, less than the OECD average of USD 30 490 a year.

In terms of employment, about the same amount of people aged 15 to 64 in Korea have a paid job as the OECD employment average of 66%. Some 75% of men are in paid work, compared with 57% of women. In Korea, more employees work very long hours in paid work than the OECD average of 10%.

Good education and skills are important requisites for finding a job. In Korea, 89% of adults aged 25-64 have completed upper secondary education, higher than the OECD average of 79%. However, completion varies between men and women, as 92% of men have successfully completed high school compared with 87% of women. In terms of the quality of the education system, the average student scored 520 in reading literacy, maths and science in the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This score is higher than the OECD average of 488. On average in Korea, girls outperformed boys by 5 points, smilar to the average OECD gap.

In terms of health, life expectancy at birth in Korea is around 83 years, two years higher than the OECD average of 81 years. Life expectancy for women is 86 years, compared with 80 for men. The level of atmospheric PM2.5 – tiny air pollutant particles small enough to enter and cause damage to the lungs – is 27.3 micrograms per cubic meter, well above the OECD average of 14 micrograms per cubic meter. In Korea, 82% of people say they are satisfied with the quality of their water, lower than the OECD average of 84%.

Concerning the public sphere, there is a moderate sense of community and high levels of civic participation in Korea, where 80% of people believe that they know someone they could rely on in time of need, less than the OECD average of 91%. Voter turnout, a measure of citizens' participation in the political process, was 77% during recent elections, higher than the OECD average of 69%. Social and economic status can affect voting rates; voter turnout for the top 20% of the population is an estimated 76% and for the bottom 20% it is an estimated 77%.

When asked to rate their general satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10, Koeans gave it a 5.8 grade on average, lower than the OECD average of 6.7.

For more information on estimates and years of reference, see FAQ section and BLI database.

Key Findings

Living in satisfactory housing conditions is one of the most important aspects of people's lives. Housing is essential to meet basic needs, such as shelter, but it is not just a question of four walls and a roof. Housing should offer a place to sleep and rest where people feel safe and have privacy and personal space; somewhere they can raise a family. All of these elements help make a house a home. And of course there is the question whether people can afford adequate housing.

Housing costs take up a large share of the household budget and represent the largest single expenditure for many individuals and families, by the time you add up elements such as rent, gas, electricity, water, furniture or repairs. In Korea, households on average spend 15% of their gross adjusted disposable income on keeping a roof over their heads, the lowest level in the OECD, where the average is 20%.

In addition to housing costs 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 children's development. In addition, dense living conditions are often a sign of inadequate water and sewage supply. In Korea, the average home contains 1.5 room per person, less than the OECD average of 1.7 rooms per person. In terms of basic facilities, 97.5% of dwellings in Korea contain private access to an indoor flushing toilet, slightly more than the OECD average of 97%.

More Resources

How's Life?: Measuring Well-being

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, 66% of the working-age population aged 15 to 64 has a paid job. This figure is in line with the OECD employment average.

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 nearly 0%, the lowest rate in the OECD, where the average long-term unemployment rate is 1.3%.

The wages and other monetary benefits that come with employment are an important aspect of job quality. Koreans earn USD 41 960 per year on average, less than the OECD average of USD 49 165.

Another essential factor of employment quality is job security, in terms of expected loss of earnings when someone becomes unemployed. This includes how likely you are to lose your job, how long you are likely to remain unemployed and how much financial assistance you can expect from government. Workers facing a high risk of job loss are more vulnerable, especially in countries with smaller social safety nets. In Korea, workers face an expected 2.9% loss of earnings if they become unemployed, lower than the OECD average of 5.1%.

For more information on estimates and years of reference, see FAQ section and BLI database.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Protecting workers

Korea’s Employment Insurance System (EIS) played a significant role in softening the effects of the economic crisis on employment. The EIS is made up of an unemployment benefit, job security programmes and job capability programmes. This system goes beyond income support, offering programmes that show employers how to retain jobs and making workers more employable. For example, the job security programme creates new jobs and encourages employers to keep workers, while the job capability development programme creates training and education opportunities. The subsidy for employment retention was particularly important following the crisis as it encourages employers to relocate jobs and give employees training opportunities rather than fire them in hard times. In 2009, the subsidy was increased tenfold from the previous year to curb the effects of the crisis and prevent widespread unemployment. More should be done to include non-regular workers in the EIS and Korea has taken a first step in this direction by introducing the Durunuri programme, which reduces the burden of EIS insurance premiums for small firms.

More Resources

How's Life?: Measuring Well-being OECD Job Quality Database

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. Having a good education greatly improves the likelihood of finding a job and earning enough money. Koreans can expect to go through 17.2 years of education between the ages of 5 and 39, similar to the OECD average of 18 years.

Graduating from upper secondary education has become increasingly important in all countries, as the skills needed in the labour market are becoming more knowledge-based. 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, 89% of adults aged 25-64 have completed upper secondary education, higher than the OECD average of 79%.

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 2018, PISA focused on examining students' reading ability, skills in maths and level in sciences, as research shows that these skills are more reliable predictors of economic and social well-being than the number of years spent in school.

Korea is a top-performing OECD country in reading literacy, maths and sciences with the average student scoring 520, above the OECD average of 488. The best-performing school systems manage to provide high-quality education to all students.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Combining work and school experience

The Vocational High-School Advancement Plan (2010-15) aimed to build vocational schools based on industrial needs and sector-specific skills, favouring work over college admission after high-school graduation. Improving the quality and relevance of vocational education in Korea is a priority as the average employment rate of junior college graduates and specialised vocational high-school graduates was only 61% and 41%, respectively, in 2013.

A cornerstone of the Plan was the creation of Meister schools, which allow students to combine work and study, based on the German craftsmen training model. There are now 41 Meister schools in Korea, with more than 16 000 students, and six more planned for 2016-17. The job placement rate for Meister school graduates is more than 90%, compared to only 44% for traditional vocational high schools.

A second initiative is the Work-Study Dual System, which aims to involve 70 000 students/workers and 10 000 companies in an apprenticeship system, launching programmes in vocational high schools, junior college states and universities. As the majority of participating firms are SMEs, the system faces financial challenges. To limit the fiscal cost as the programme expands, it should be reformed to make it more profitable to firms and students; SMEs could establish joint training centres, for example.

More Resources

How's Life?: Measuring Well-being

Key Findings

Outdoor air pollution is one important environmental issue that directly affects the quality of people's lives. Despite national and international interventions and decreases in major pollutant emissions, the health impacts of urban air pollution continue to worsen, with air pollution set to become the top environmental cause of premature mortality globally by 2050. 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.

PM2.5 – 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, PM2.5 levels are 27.3 micrograms per cubic meter, the highest level in the OECD, where the average is 14 micrograms per cubic meter and much higher than the annual guideline limit of 10 micrograms per cubic meter set by the World Health Organization.

Access to clean water is fundamental to human well-being. Despite significant progress in OECD countries in reducing water pollution, improvements in freshwater quality are not always easy to discern. In Korea, 82% of people say they are satisfied with water quality, lower than the OECD average of 84%.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Reducing air pollution in cities

Korea is among the world’s most densely populated countries, with some 70% concentrated in urban areas, particularly near the Seoul Metropolitan area. Air pollution, which already causes a wide range of health problems across the world, poses a real threat to this population. In response, Seoul has taken important measures to reduce air pollution. Yearly emission caps for nitrogen oxides (NOX) and sulphur oxides (SOX) were enforced in 2008. Facilities that exceed their allocated emissions receive fines. Emissions allowances have also been continuously reduced over the years to improve effectiveness. Considering the emission cap management system’s success to date there is potential to expand the system to other parts of the country.

The Seoul Metropolitan Air Quality Control Master Plan (2005-14) successfully reduced air pollutant emissions by half from 2001 levels by 2014. Though air quality improved significantly, PM10 and NO2 concentration targets were not achieved. In a push to continue improving air quality, new concentration targets for PM2.5 and ozone were included in a second master plan for 2015-24.

More Resources

How's Life?: Measuring Well-being OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050

Key Findings

Trust in government is essential for social cohesion and well-being. High voter turnout is a measure of citizens' participation in the political process. In the most recent elections for which data are available, voter turnout in Korea was 77% of those registered. This figure is higher than the OECD average of 69%.

Broader public engagement in the decision-making process is also important for holding the government to account and maintaining confidence in public institutions. The formal process for public engagement in developing laws and regulations is one way to measure the extent to which people can become involved in government decisions on key issues that affect their lives. In Korea, the level of stakeholder engagement in developing regulations is 2.9 (on a scale between 0 and 4), higher than the OECD average of 2.1.

For more information on estimates and years of reference, see FAQ section and BLI database.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Engaging youth in policy making

The Korean government has created Youth Participation Organisations (YPOs) to engage young people in central and local policy making, and participate in managing various youth centres.

Until the late 1990s, young people in Korea had been regarded as simply to be protected, and thus could hardly participate in social issues. Now, young people can freely express their opinions and needs regarding policies that affect them.

YPOs consist of National Youth Congress, Youth Steering Committee, Youth Participation Committee, and Change Community Programme. In 2014 approximately 100 000 people had benefitted from the YPOs. Every year, some 10 000 young people propose diverse and creative ideas from their own perspectives. Their new ideas include a suggestion to create the "Help Call 120" system for the youth in Seoul, a proposal to make a basic-Plan for the Youth in Daegu, and calls for career experience programmes in youth facilities. An evaluation of 2005-2013 shows that the national youth congress proposed a total of 357 policy projects to the central government and 316 (88.5%) of the proposed projects were accepted over the nine years.

More Resources

How's Life?: Measuring Well-being Regulatory Policy Outlook: Korea

Key Findings

Finding a suitable balance between work and life is a challenge for all workers, especially working parents. The ability to successfully combine work, family commitments and personal life is important for the well-being of all members in a household. Governments can help to address the issue by encouraging supportive and flexible working practices, making it easier for parents to strike a better balance between work and home life.

An 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, jeopardise safety and increase stress. In Korea, the percentage of employees that work very long hours in paid work is much higher than the OECD average of 10%.

The more people work, the less time they have to spend on other activities, such as time with others, leisure activities, eating or sleeping. The amount and quality of leisure time is important for people's overall well-being, and can bring additional physical and mental health benefits. In Korea, full-time workers devote 62% of their day on average, or 14.8 hours, to personal care (eating, sleeping, etc.) and leisure (socialising with friends and family, hobbies, games, computer and television use, etc.) – close to the OECD average of 15 hours.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Helping parents

Like many countries, Korea has struggled with a declining fertility rate putting stress on the future economy. The Korean government has supported a number of initiatives since the early 2000s so that parents are not forced to choose between work and family commitments.

For example, formal childcare has been made a priority, first increasing and expanding the subsidy in 2004, and then dropping the income-test in 2013 and further extending coverage to children aged 3-5 years. These changes created a universal programme of public assistance for centre-based childcare. Overall, public spending on early childhood education and care increased from 0.1% of GDP in 2000 to 0.9% in 2014, the highest increase in public investment in this area in any OECD country. This had a positive impact on enrolment rates for children aged 0-2 years, increasing from 4% in 2002 to 35% in 2014. Enrolment for children aged 3-5 years also increased significantly from 31% in 2005 to 92% in 2014.

Korean parents can also better manage their time thanks to a system of child-related leaves until their child’s second birthday. Employed parents are entitled to three types of leave, including maternity leave, paternity leave and parental leave as well as financial support for maternity and parental leave. The extension of duration and increase in payment rates for maternity and parental leave have increased take-up of maternity leave in the private sector fivefold between 2002 and 2015.

More Resources

How's Life?: Measuring Well-being