Young people who move from regional areas to Seoul and the broader Greater Seoul area earn more than those who stay behind — but their chances of surpassing their parents' economic standing are diminishing, a new report shows. Access to the capital region is also increasingly determined by parental wealth.

The Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training on Monday introduced the findings in a recently published issue brief summarizing the OECD Economic Survey of Korea 2026.

An SRT train pulls into the platform at Seoul Station in Jung-gu, Seoul. [Photo by Lim Se-jun]
An SRT train pulls into the platform at Seoul Station in Jung-gu, Seoul. [Photo by Lim Se-jun]

The OECD, working jointly with the Bank of Korea, analyzed data from a long-term tracking study that followed 1,000 people born between 1971 and 1990 — along with their parents — from 1998 to 2023.

The analysis found that young people who relocated from regional areas to Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area had higher absolute income levels than those who remained in their home regions.

However, the OECD found that the social mobility effect of moving to the capital region has weakened over time. While incomes have risen, achieving a higher economic standing than one's parents has become harder than it once was.

"Young people are moving to the metropolitan area in pursuit of top university admissions and quality jobs, but recent research suggests that relocating to the capital region is no longer the path to prosperity it once was," the OECD said in the report.

The trend was particularly pronounced among the younger cohort in the study — those born between 1981 and 1990 — who showed even lower social mobility gains from moving to the metropolitan area than the preceding generation.

The OECD identified parental income as the key factor determining whether young people from regional areas make the move to the capital region. Because high housing and living costs require financial support from parents, those from lower-income households face greater barriers to relocating — and are more likely to have limited access to Seoul's universities and quality employment.

Even when young people from low-income families do move to the capital region, the OECD added, sustaining high living costs without parental support can constrain their prospects for upward mobility.

The OECD singled out Seoul's high housing costs as the most significant barrier preventing young people outside the capital region from making the move. The share of homes in Seoul that a median-income household could afford fell from 32 percent in 2012 to 7 percent last year.

The report also warned that as concentration in the capital region deepens, areas outside it face growing risks of population decline, labor shortages and economic contraction.

The OECD recommended policies to redistribute opportunity away from the capital region — including expanding quality jobs and educational opportunities in regional areas and strengthening transportation and digital infrastructure.


y2k@heraldcorp.com