<Anchor> This is a
friendly economic time. Today (12th), I will be with reporter Kim Hye-min. This year or from last year? There is a huge disparity between the generations. You talk about these things a lot. But you said that there is data that can verify that this is actually the case?
<Reporter>
Even if you worked for the same company, your seniors could buy a house in Gangnam, but it is difficult for juniors who come in these days to buy a house in Gangbuk as well. I often say this.
In fact, it is very difficult to find a Jeonse house when you get married these days. In this way, there is data that examines whether the wealth gap between generations really exists.
It is actually quite reliable because it is the result of analyzing the data of the National Statistical Office by the Seoul Research Institute, a research institute funded by Seoul.
First, we divide the generations into age groups. Each generation refers to the 'net worth', that is, the total assets minus the debts, and I calculated how much they have once.
Then there was one thing in common. To put it simply, it was common for my dad to have fewer assets at my age than the assets I have now.
You may be thinking, “Isn’t it because of the inflation rate?” This is an amount that reflects all of that. However, there was a generation in which this phenomenon was the only deviation.
<Anchor>
It's a rough guess, but has it been confirmed that the young generation's assets are not keeping up with other generations?
<Reporter>
Yes. The generation from the mid 80's to the mid 90's is called Generation Y in the report, and I also belong to this group.
They had lower net worth for their age than their immediate predecessor, Generation X, who were born in the mid 70's to mid 80's.
Let's go into more detail. When I was born in 1990 and was in my early 20s, my net worth was a little over 27 million won on average. But when I was born in the 1980s and in my early 20s, it was around 40 million won.
So, $13 million is less. One of the biggest reasons for such a difference is 'real estate'.
The average price of the house that Generation Y lives in is about 57 million won as of last year, whereas Generation X lives in a house that is much more expensive than this, at 180 million won.
Moreover, only 23% of Generation Y households live in their own household. As housing prices rose, it was difficult to see the effect of an increase in assets.
<Anchor>
So, in the end, depending on whether you receive the effect of a rise in real estate prices, there is a lot of difference in assets. But despite the fact that real estate prices have gone up a lot, in a report called Generation X, it seems that their net worth is a bit high. (Anchors are Generation X, right?) I am also Generation X.
<Reporter>
Generation X is also the fastest-growing generation in the past nine years. Some are born with good timing, but the way they call the seed money they have is a little different from the previous generation.
There were very few cases where money was just a deposit. While investing directly in real estate and stocks, I have been borrowing assets using leverage and loans.
On the other hand, many of the previous generations invested heavily in safe assets, and the younger generation had difficulty collecting seed money at all.
In particular, there is an age group that has accumulated a lot of assets. Those born in the 1970s had more than 40 million won in net assets when they were in their 40s, the same age group, than those born in the 1960s.
The researchers defined this Generation X as “a special generation that greatly exceeds the net worth of the previous generation, and a generation that is beginning to be distinguished from the previous generation.”
<Anchor> After
listening to reporter Kim's explanation, even my parents' generation owe them debts, then they said, "It's a big deal." I think you said this, but honestly, my generation seems to have been a little more liberal and active when it comes to buying a house with debt like this. So far, we have been talking about the previous generations. What do future generations look like?
<Reporter>
This is a bit unfortunate, but young people, that is, Generation Y, have low expectations for the future. When it comes to debt, such as loans, Generation X is the most likely to say that it will decrease in the future.
However, in Generation Y, nearly half of the responses said 'there will be no change'.
Generation Y already has a lot of debt, and they have a gloomy expectation that this will not show any signs of diminishing.
What's more, Generation Y has, on average, increased their spending on cars by more than 200% over the past nine years.
The rise was the fastest than any other generation, but it seems that Generation Y has a realization that happiness in the present is more important than the distant future, where it is unknown whether it will get better or not.
As it becomes difficult to get a job, the time and opportunity to accumulate assets through income has decreased. In the meantime, real estate prices have skyrocketed and the younger generation has missed the time to buy a house. The wealth gap is expected to widen in the future, They desperately need an opportunity to raise their assets by making seed money.