Seoul Welfare Foundation analyzes economic and financial data on 920,000 single-person households

Asset gap between owners and renters grows from 2.5 times in early 40s to 3.6 times in late 60s

Income gap stays relatively stable across all age groups at 1.2 to 1.3 times

Real estate drives widening wealth divide as single-person households age

Seoul City Hall [Herald DB]
Seoul City Hall [Herald DB]

The wealth gap between homeowners and renters among Seoul's single-person households widens significantly with age, a new study has found. Among single-person households in their early 40s, those who own their homes hold assets worth 2.5 times more than those who do not — a gap that grows to 3.6 times by the late 60s.

The Seoul Welfare Foundation announced the findings Saturday, based on an analysis of financial data from 921,328 people who met the criteria for single-person household status in Seoul throughout 2024. The analysis drew on pseudonymized data from KCB, Shinhan Card and SK Telecom.

The foundation used an index that sets the overall average for each age group at 100, with scores above 100 indicating above-average standing and scores below 100 indicating below-average standing.

Among single-person households aged 40 to 44, renters posted an asset index of 84.2 while homeowners scored 214 — a gap of 2.54 times. That disparity widened steadily across older age groups: 2.76 times for those aged 45 to 49, 3.08 times for 50 to 54, 3.14 times for 55 to 59, and 3.4 times for 60 to 64. The gap peaked at 3.56 times among those aged 65 to 69.

The income gap between homeowners and renters, however, remained relatively stable regardless of age. Among those aged 40 to 44, renters had an income index of 94.4 compared with 126 for homeowners — a gap of about 1.33 times. The ratio held broadly steady at 1.34 times for the 45-to-49 group, 1.3 times for 50 to 54, and 1.22 times for 55 to 59. While the income gap stayed largely flat, the asset gap widened considerably with age.

The share of people carrying outstanding loan balances also differed by up to 18 percentage points depending on homeownership status. Among single-person households aged 40 to 44, 37.6 percent of renters had outstanding loans, compared with 55.6 percent of homeowners living in their own properties. Credit scores, however, were similar between the two groups. Detailed findings are available on the foundation's "Seoul Welfare by Data" webpage.

"If we look at single-person households through the single lens of age, we risk missing the diverse economic and financial characteristics within the same age group," said Jin Su-hee, the foundation's president. "We have made the data publicly available so that anyone can check the figures for the age group they are interested in, and we hope it will be widely used." The foundation added that the dataset contains no personally identifiable information.


ken@heraldcorp.com