Young Koreans' Salaries Decline

Young people's salaries are falling, leading to concerns that the jobs available for those in their teens and 20s are declining in quality. In a report on Sunday, the Hyundai Economic Research Institute said when the wages of all workers are put at 100, the wage index for young people fell from 78.2 in 2007 to 74.3 this year.

Not only do young people face a shortage of jobs, but they also get paid low wages when they do manage to find work.

Wages are shrinking even more if rising consumer prices are taken into account. The real wages earned by young people dropped 1.3 percent in 2009, 0.8 percent in 2010 and 1.7 percent this year, significantly steeper than the 0.7 percent decline in the salaries of total wage earners.