โป Editor's note: 'Hermit youth' who rarely go out for social activities are estimated to be 5.2% of all youth, or approximately 540,000 people. Youth seclusion, which became visible as a social problem during COVID-19, is now facing new problems such as prolonged isolation and aging of parents. Amid long-term career gaps, the labor market is also changing rapidly, including the spread of rolling and experienced hiring and the introduction of generative artificial intelligence (AI). Yonhap News examines the issue of youth isolation in four axes: the reality and structure, the lives of the people involved, exploratory experiments by local governments and the private sector, and policy alternatives, and publishes four special articles that seek ways for them to reconnect with society.
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Go Yoo-seon and Ok Seong-gu = The isolation and seclusion of young people that began in their 20s and continues into their mid- to late 30s is becoming a reality.
As young people who are disconnected from society due to job failure and career gaps are getting older and their parents' generation is also aging, there are concerns that youth isolation and seclusion, which were considered only as an individual's employment problem, may expand into a problem that threatens the livelihood and care of the family.
โ The vicious cycle of unstable jobs and seclusionโฆ prolonged isolation
According to a report titled 'Determinants of Youth Seclusion and Estimation of Socioeconomic Costs' by the Korea Economic Association and the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on the 5th, based on data from the Office for Government Policy Coordination's '2024 Youth Life Survey', the number of secluded youth in Korea is estimated to be approximately 537,800 as of 2024.
Reclusive youth refer to young people aged 19 to 34 who stay at home almost exclusively, except for reasons such as pregnancy, childbirth, or disability.
The size of secluded youth in 2024 is approximately 5.2% of the total youth population, and compared to 2.4% at the time of the 2022 survey, it has more than doubled in just two years.
Not only has the number of young people living in isolation increased, but the period of isolation for these reclusive young people also appears to be lengthening.
According to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs' report on 'Changes in youth seclusion patterns and policy challenges', comparing the 2022 and 2024 youth life surveys, the proportion of those who remained secluded for '7 years or more' increased from 4.0% to 6.0%, and '3 years to less than 5 years' increased from 5.4% to 10.8%. โMore than 5 years to less than 7 yearsโ was the same at 2.6%.
The main cause of seclusion is the changed characteristics of the labor market. The impact of โjobsโ is significant.
As of 2022, the number one reason why reclusive young people rarely go out was 'other', which tended to make it difficult to specify the reason or to mix several reasons, but in 2024, the response rate citing difficulties in employment was the highest at 41.1%.
In addition, among youth classified as economically inactive, the probability of seclusion among youth who were 'rested' was 17.8%, which was 6.6 times higher than that of employed youth (2.7%).
For unemployed young people, the probability of seclusion was 15.1% in the first month of job search, but it is estimated to increase to 50.1% in the 42nd month.
Experts believe that complex changes in the labor market are accelerating this phenomenon.
While the hiring of new employees is decreasing, experienced and temporary hiring is increasing, making it less easy for young people outside the labor market to get a job than before, and with the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the number of jobs that young people can perform without special experience is decreasing.
In addition, even if you succeed in getting a job, if you do not find a sustainable job and have to move between unstable jobs, there is a greater possibility that you will be pushed out of the labor market and choose to go into hiding again.
Kim Seong-hee, a professor at Korea University's Graduate School of Labor Studies, said, "Usually, if you do not get a sustainable job in your first job and move from unstable job to job, it is easy to fall into isolation. There may be elements of the Japanese style of hikikomori, but looking at isolated young people in Korea recently, there is a tendency to repeatedly enter and exit the labor market."
โ Concerns about following the Japanese style of โ8050 isolationโ
The problem is that if this isolation continues for a long time, there is a growing possibility that it will lead to a family crisis, coupled with the aging of not only the parties but also their parents' generation.
Those in their mid to late 20s who were in the spotlight at the center of the isolation and seclusion issue during the COVID-19 pandemic are now in their 30s, and the so-called 'prolongation of isolation', where isolation that started in adolescence continues into middle age, is becoming visible.
In particular, considering that their parents' generation, the second baby boomer generation (born between 1964 and 1974), is about to retire, the moment the economic and care base disappears due to the aging of the parents' generation, the livelihood, housing, and medical problems of reclusive youth and their parents may arise all at once.
In Japan, the '8050 problem', in which parents in their 80s support their reclusive children in their 50s, resulting in poverty, illness, and isolation of children, has emerged as a social issue, and there are concerns that this could be repeated.
Jeong Soon-dul, a professor at the Department of Social Welfare at Ewha Womans University, said, "Japan has a hikikomori problem from a younger age, so it may seem too negative to say that Japan is going like Japan, but if the isolation problem is not resolved and becomes entrenched, it may develop like the '8050 problem'," and emphasized, "If left unattended, social entrenchment will worsen, so early intervention is important."
For this reason, it is pointed out that all-round policy support is needed to expand the scope of the youth group and to restore economic activity and social relationships, rather than limiting their isolation and seclusion to a matter of individual will.
Korea's Basic Act on Youth defines youth as those between the ages of 19 and 34, so many measures related to employment are established for those under the age of 35, but there is a need to completely expand this scope.
Koo Jeong-woo, a professor of sociology at Sungkyunkwan University, said, "The government provides education and employment opportunities to young people in their 20s and early 30s, but as soon as they reach their mid- to late 30s, social interest drops sharply. As social interest declines, they become more reclusive and the vicious cycle repeats, so we need to view them comprehensively as 'young people' and continue to invest social interest in them."
Professor Kim Seong-hee said, โThe age excluded from labor market measures may make it more difficult to escape isolation, so the age of isolated youth may increase further,โ and emphasized, โIn the end, it is necessary to focus on the โproblemโ itself and find ways to improve it, rather than limiting it to โyouth.โโ
As there are limits to the government's direct support, some argue that indirect and comprehensive measures are needed to encourage movement in all sectors of society, including businesses.
Professor Soon-Dul Jeong suggested, "There are limits to the government's ability to directly intervene in the private market or artificially create jobs, so it should focus on its role in providing indirect support and setting the stage, such as easing regulations and creating an environment, so that companies can become more active and create more jobs."
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