Moving to Seoul No Longer Guarantees Better Life Than Parents: OECD

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has analyzed that attending a prestigious university in Seoul is no longer a guaranteed ticket to upward social mobility.

While young people who migrated to the greater Seoul area earned relatively higher incomes, their chances of becoming better off than their parents have decreased compared to the past, and even the opportunity to enter the capital region is heavily influenced by their parents' economic power.

According to the education sector on Sunday (July 27), the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training recently introduced these findings in an issue brief covering the OECD Economic Survey of Korea 2026.

The OECD, in collaboration with the Bank of Korea, tracked and analyzed 1,000 individuals born between 1971 and 1990 and their parents from 1998 to 2023. The results showed that young people who moved from regional areas to the greater Seoul area had higher absolute incomes compared to those who did not.

However, the OECD analyzed that the effect of social mobility for these individuals is gradually weakening.

This means that even though their incomes themselves are relatively high, it has become harder for them to become a generation that is better off than their parents.

In the report, the OECD explained, "Competition for top-tier universities and a shortage of quality jobs continue to drive young people toward the capital region."

"However, new studies suggest that moving to the capital region is no longer a path to prosperity as it used to be," it added.

The OECD stated that it was confirmed that the effect of social mobility from migrating to the capital region is even lower among those born between 1981 and 1990, who belong to the younger cohort of the surveyed group.

In addition, the OECD found that parents' income has a decisive influence on young people from regional areas migrating to the capital region.

To afford high housing and living costs, parents' economic power is crucial. The analysis indicates that if parental income is low, it is difficult for children to migrate to the capital region, which consequently lowers their access to universities and jobs in Seoul.

This implies that even if children from low-income families succeed in moving to Seoul, sustaining life there without parental support is extremely tough, reducing the possibility of upward mobility.

The OECD pointed to high housing costs in Seoul as a major barrier specifically hindering young people from non-capital regions from moving to the capital area.

According to the OECD, the proportion of housing in Seoul that middle-income households could afford stood at 32% back in 2012, but plummeted to 7% last year.

The OECD diagnosed that as concentration in the capital region intensifies, non-capital regions are increasingly likely to suffer from population decline, labor shortages, and regional economic contraction.

It then recommended policies to expand opportunities in local regions as well, such as improving jobs and educational conditions and expanding transportation and digital infrastructure.
 

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.