The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs reported that South Korea ranked 19th out of 38 countries in the OECD's revised Better Life Index (BLI). While the country excelled in material and objective indicators such as housing and education, it fell to the bottom tier in areas like labor conditions, social isolation, and subjective life satisfaction, revealing significant vulnerabilities in Korean society. Experts emphasized the need for national efforts to address issues of inequality and deprivation that are obscured by average development indicators.
On August 10, the institute published its findings in the 471st issue of Health and Welfare Issues and Focus, led by researcher Jeong Hae-sik. The dataset, compiled as of the end of 2024, showed that South Korea's overall BLI score was 5.99, placing it 19th among the 38 OECD member countries.
Examining the scores by category reveals extreme polarization. South Korea ranked first in housing, second in knowledge and skills, eighth in environmental quality, and ninth in civic engagement. Specifically, the country achieved excellent results in several areas, including a 0% exposure rate to extreme heat (tied for first), a disposable income ratio after housing costs of 84.83% (second), an average score of 527.3 in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) math test (second), a low percentage of underperforming students at 7.29% (third), and a life expectancy at birth of 83.5 years (fifth).
However, subjective well-being, which directly impacts quality of life, ranked 35th, labor conditions 36th, and social connections 37th. Notably, the gender wage gap, with women's median wages 28.95% lower than men's, and the lack of social support, with 20.64% of respondents indicating they had no one to rely on in times of trouble, placed South Korea at the bottom of the OECD rankings, in 38th place.
Additionally, the percentage of workers engaged in long hours, defined as working over 50 hours a week, was 13.69% (34th), the mortality rate from despair-related causes, including suicide, alcohol, and drug overdoses, was 27.97 per 100,000 people (31st), and the balance of negative emotions was 14.85% (29th). Life satisfaction scored 6.5 points, placing South Korea 36th, highlighting significant social deprivation and disparities.
The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs emphasized the importance of the newly revised OECD BLI framework, which significantly incorporates indicators of disparity and deprivation. Even if the average figures for society as a whole have improved, it is crucial to examine who benefits from these improvements and how many individuals fail to meet even the minimum standards set by society.
Jeong Hae-sik stated, "The key message from this index is that we must confront the question of whose lives are actually improving in the pursuit of a better life." He pointed out that despite South Korea's top rankings in objective material and knowledge conditions, the quality of life foundation remains fragile due to long working hours, despair-related deaths, gender disparities, and a lack of social support.
He further noted, "The increase in negative emotions and despair-related deaths signals a structural crisis in society that cannot be resolved by individual efforts alone." He called for the establishment of new social norms that align with the changed realities and demands of the times, and for continuous monitoring of quality of life indicators to ensure that actual policy implementations lead to improved well-being for the public.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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