KRIVET Issue Brief People are Our Hope
Who Supports the Youth Basic Income?
- About 32.5% of the population aged 19–64 agreed to the introduction of this scheme while 51.7% disagreed and 15.7% were undecided.
- There were more male respondents than female respondents who agreed to the introduction of the scheme (34.0% vs. 31.0%). As for the support level for the scheme by age group, the youth group (19–34) showed the strongest support (40.0%) and the key age group (35–50) showed the lowest (25.5%).
- Vulnerable groups in the labor market showed relatively strong support for the scheme. Among these were the low-income households or those with a monthly household income of 3 million won or less (34.5%), the day laborers (42.2%), the temporary workers (39%), and the minimally educated workers or those with an educational attainment of a high school diploma or lower (35.8%).
- These results show that there is a need to discuss and find ways to ensure the income of such vulnerable groups through the realignment of social welfare measures and social security systems.
01 Necessity of analysis and analysis data
| Recently, discussions about the job crisis and social security realignment have been triggered by the digital transformation and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this study, the researchers presented the concept and purpose of the youth basic income and identified the respondents’
perceptions of it through a survey.
The core requirements of basic income are universality, individuality, unconditionality, cashability, and regularity. Of these, universality, unconditionality, and individuality are the most important.
The youth basic income is semi-universal in that it is limited to young people, but it meets the unconditionality requirement because it does not impose the obligation of participating in job search and social activities, the cashability requirement because it provides cash income, and the individuality requirement because it is paid directly to individuals instead of households.
| Analysis data: KRIVET’s “Survey on New Social Risks and the Role of the Government” (2020)
This study investigated the Korean adult population’s (19–64 years of age) perceptions of new social risks1) and of the government’s role in relation to these, and included questions about such population’s perceptions of the youth basic income.
On the basis of the resident registration as of July 2020, 1,500 adults aged 19–64 were surveyed. They were divided into six groups, two by gender (male and female) and three by age (19–34 years old, 35–50 years old, 51–64 years old).
The following questions were presented to the respondents to identify their perceptions of the youth basic income.
“The younger generation is going through a hard time due to the recent digital transformation and the COVID-19 pandemic. The youth basic income is a social policy measure by which the government pays ‘a certain amount of cashable income’ ‘regularly’ to young individuals aged 19–34 ‘unconditionally.’ The youth basic income aims to guarantee the basic social rights of young people, such as pursuing happiness, improving their quality of life, and improving their health standards.”
What do you think of the youth basic income?
1) I agree; 2) I disagree; 3) I don’t know.
I Footnote I
1) New social risks refer to the risks faced by members of society due to rapid changes in the social and economic structure. They are distinct from bodily or physical risks such as industrial accidents and refer to risks caused by economic and structural changes. In particular, they include increased risk of unemployment and job loss due to changes in the industrial structure (e.g., expansion of the service industry, digitalization), securing work-life balance due to changes in the family structure (e.g., low birth rate, aging), and increased labor market insecurity due to employment type diversification.
Publisher: Young Sun Ra | Date of issue: November 9, 2020 | Issued by: Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET)
2020 No.197
KRIVET Issue Brief
02 Main analysis results
32.5% of all the respondents were in favor of the youth basic income, 52.4% were against it, and about 13.6% said they did not know about it.
| Gender
About 34.0% of the men and 31.0% of the women were in favor of the youth basic income.
| By sex-age group
There was a significant difference in opinions on the youth basic income by sex-age group.
Overall, among both the men and women, the youth group (19–34) had the highest percentage of approval of the youth basic income (39.4% and 40.7%, respectively), but 45.3% and 40.3%, respectively, disapproved of the scheme.
In the key age group (35–50), only 28.3% of the men and 22.6% of the women approved of the scheme, and 56.3% and 59.5%, respectively, disapproved of it.
The middle-age group (51–64) had a lower approval rate than the youth group but had a higher approval rate than the key age group. About 35.6% of the men in such group and 31.8% of the women approved of the youth basic income.
The opinions of the six sex-age groups on the youth basic income showed significant differences.
｜ By household income level
On the basis of the respondents’ household income, households with an average monthly income of less than 3 million won were classified as low income, those with 3–6 million won were classified as middle income, and those with more than 6 million won were classified as high income.
There were significant differences in youth basic income perception by household income level. About 34.4% of the respondents from low-income households, 32.3% of those from middle-income households, and 30.4% of those from high-income households approved of the scheme. Those who disapproved of the scheme were mostly from high-income households. About 12.5% of those from such households expressed reservations regarding the youth basic income, and about 20.9% of those from low-income households indicated that they didn’t know about the said scheme.
I Note I
The differences in response distribution by gender were not statistically significant at the 95% level (Pearson chi2 (2) = 5.6676; Pr = 0.059).
Agree Disagree Undecided
I Note I
The differences in response distribution by sex-age were not statistically significant at the 95% level (Pearson chi2 (10) = 38.50; Pr = 0.000).
Agree Disagree Undecided
34.04
31.00 32.53
(%) 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Men (n=758)
Women (n=742)
Total (n=1,500)
39.41 40.74
(%) 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Males in the youth group
(n=263)
Males in the key age group (n=286)
Males in the middle-age
group (n=236)
Women in the youth group
(n=216)
Women in the key age group
(n=274)
Women in the middle-age
group (n=252)
Total (n=1,500) 28.32
35.59
22.63
31.75 32.53
November 9, 2020
| By job status
There were also significant differences in opinion about the youth basic income by labor market status. Only 31.3% of the permanent workers and 31.8% of the non-wage workers said that they approved of it while 39.1% of the temporary workers and 42.2% of the day laborers did.
In the case of the day laborers, 24.4% said they were undecided about the youth basic income, as opposed to only about 13.0% of the permanent workers.
| By years worked
The differences in opinion about the youth basic income by number of years worked were remarkable.
In the group with more than 20 years’ work experience, the approval rate was very high (40.0%) while in the short-duration employment groups (1 year or less and 1–3 years), the approval rates were about 35.9% and 37.6%, respectively, higher than in the other groups.
On the other hand, in the case of the groups with 3–5 and 10–20 years’ work experience, respectively, 26.6% and 26.5% had positive perceptions of the youth basic income, lower than in the other groups.
I Note I
The differences in response distribution by household i n c o m e l e v e l w e r e n o t statistically significant at the 95% level (Pearson chi2 (4) = 19.8274; Pr = 0.001).
Agree Disagree Undecided
I Note I
The differences in response distribution by occupational- status group were statistically significant at the 95% level (Pearson chi2 (6) = 13.4315; Pr = 0.037).
Agree Disagree Undecided
I Note I
The differences in response distribution by number of years at the current workplace were statistically significant at the 95% level 20 (Pearson chi2 (10) = 20.6591; Pr = 0.024).
Agree Disagree Undecided
34.48 32.31
30.40 32.53
(%) 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Low income (n=464)
Middle income (n=684)
High income (n=352)
Total (n=1,500)
31.27
39.09 42.22
31.78 32.55
(%) 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Regular (n=822)
Temporary (n=110)
Day (n=45)
Non-wage (n=129)
Total (n=1,106)
(%) 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
1 year or less (n=167)
1–3 years (n=229)
3–5 years (n=154)
5–10 years (n=187)
10–20 years (n=155)
20 years or less (n=85)
Total (n=977)
35.93 37.55
26.62 30.48
26.45
40.00
32.65
KRIVET Issue Brief
｜ KRIVET Social Policy Building, Sejong National Research Complex, 370, Sicheong-daero, Sejong-si, Republic of Korea ｜ Tel: 044-415-5000/5100 ｜ www.krivet.re.kr ｜
| By education level
There were remarkable differences in youth basic income perception by educational-attainment level.
About 35.7% of those with high school diplomas or lower and 32.6% of the college graduates approved of the youth basic income while only 29.7% of the vocational college graduates and 28.1% of those with graduate degrees or higher did. In the case of the college graduates and those with graduate degrees or higher, 54.2% and 61.7%, respectively, disapproved of the youth basic income, higher than in the other educational-attainment level groups.
| By number of children
In the case of the married group, positions on the youth basic income varied depending on the number of children.
Of those with two children, support for the youth basic income was the highest at around 35.4%. Of those with three or more, 25.8% agreed, and of those with one child, 24.7% agreed to the scheme. On the other hand, support for the youth basic income was relatively low at around 12.9% when there were no children.
03 Conclusion and Implications
The analysis results show that men have a slightly higher youth basic income approval rate than women, and young people support the scheme the most while the support rate was lowest in the key age group.
The highest percentage in favor of the youth basic income was in the low-income household group, and the higher the income level, the higher the percentage of those who disapproved of the scheme.
The support rate for the youth basic income was relatively high among the day laborers, temporary workers, and minimally educated while the support rate was relatively low among the permanent workers, non-wage workers, and highly educated (college graduate or higher).
The positions on the youth basic income varied greatly depending on sex generation, which seems to reflect differences in the perceived efficacy of welfare policies and different opinions on financial burden.
The aforementioned study results show that there is a need to discuss and find ways to ensure the income of the vulnerable groups through the realignment of social welfare policies and social security systems.
Ryu, Kirak (Ph.D., Research Fellow, KRIVET)
I Note I
The differences in response distribution by educational- a t t a i n m e n t l e v e l w e r e statistically significant at the 95% level (Pearson chi2 (6) = 27.4936; Pr = 0.000).
Agree Disagree Undecided
I Note I
The differences in response distribution by married couples’ number of children were statistically significant at the 95% level (Pearson chi2 (6) = 35.9763; Pr = 0.000).
Agree Disagree Undecided
35.78
29.77 32.64
28.13 32.56
70 (%) 60 50 40 30 20 10
0 High school diploma or lower
(n=341)
Vocational college graduate
(n=215)
College graduate (n=815)
Graduate degree or higher
(n=128)
Total (n=1,499)
12.93
24.71
35.43
25.76 29.10
(%) 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
No child (n=116)
1 child (n=255)
2 children (n=508)
3 children (n=66)
Total (n=945)
