Social Mobility in Korea
The Korean Journal of Humanities and the Social Sciences. Han Joon (2016)
Soo-jeo-ron, a fatalistic view on low chances of mobility, is popular among Korean youth. Since this is a subjective view, it needs to be checked against objective facts. Chances of inter-generational mobility is important in society as they promote optimistic visions among people about the future. The degree of inter-generational mobility of income and class status is not very low in cross-national comparison, but it has decline consistently since the beginning of 21st century in Korea. Especially decline in the level of structural mobility is more pronounced compared to the level of circular mobility. Decline in the level of social mobility can be attributed to the increasing inequality and the change of education from the medium of mobility to medium of inheritance. In order to promote social mobility, following policy measures are recommended: increased provision of jobs targeting youth; welfare policy focusing on redistribution; educational reform to increase inclusiveness; active anti-discriminational policies.
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