Younger and Lower-Income Koreans More Likely to See Society as Unfair, Study Finds
A government-funded study of annual surveys conducted from 2013 to 2024 found that perceptions of unfairness in South Korea are more pronounced among younger, lower-income and less-educated respondents, as well as those living outside the capital region.
A growing share of South Koreans regard their society as unfair, with younger people and those facing socioeconomic disadvantages more likely to hold negative views, according to a study released Monday by the state-funded Korea Institute of Public Administration.
The researchers examined responses from annual surveys conducted between 2013 and 2024. They compared recurring questions about whether resources are distributed fairly, whether social systems operate fairly and whether individuals receive fair treatment regardless of factors such as gender or employment status. The study defined young people as respondents in their 20s and 30s.
The results showed that 32.5 percent of respondents considered Korean society moderately unfair, while 9.6 percent expressed a strong sense that it was unfair and 1.7 percent held an extreme view of unfairness. On the other side, 37.9 percent described society as moderately fair, while 1.9 percent expressed an extreme belief that it was fair. Researchers said the long-term survey results indicate that overall confidence in social fairness has weakened over the past decade.
Age, income, education and residence were all associated with how respondents assessed society. People in their 20s and 30s were more likely than middle-aged or elderly respondents to express strong or extreme perceptions of unfairness. Low-income respondents and those without college degrees were also more likely to see society negatively. Those living in the greater Seoul area were relatively less likely to regard society as unfair than people living elsewhere. Respondents without a spouse showed a similar tendency toward greater perceptions of unfairness.
Gender also played a role. Men were more likely than women to voice strong or extreme views that society was unfair. Employment status, however, had little effect on the responses, suggesting that having a job by itself did not substantially alter perceptions of fairness.
The institute said the pattern points to a structural divide rather than dissatisfaction confined to a single generation. It linked the divide to differences in access to opportunity, the distribution of resources and treatment based on social and economic position.
At the same time, researchers noted that most people did not place themselves at either extreme. They characterized the dominant attitudes as reserved skepticism or conditional acceptance, indicating that many citizens see Korean society as neither entirely fair nor entirely unfair. The findings suggest that efforts to improve public trust may need to address both material disparities and how institutions are perceived to treat people across regions and social groups.