저소득층의 임금 상승세 둔화로 한국의 임금 격차 확대

[홀랜]

Korean banknotes (123rf)

A decadelong decline in South Korea’s wage inequality has gone into reverse, driven largely by weaker growth among low-income workers since 2020, a recent study showed Thursday.

Workers in the top decile earned 3.619 times as much as those in the bottom decile in 2024, up from 3.485 times in 2020, according to the study, “An Analysis of the Shift in Wage Inequality Trends in Korea.”

The gap nevertheless remained substantially narrower than in 2010, when the highest-paid 10 percent earned 5.517 times as much per hour as the lowest-paid 10 percent.

The study, conducted by Kim Soo-hyun of the Korea Employment Information Service, examined changes in wage inequality between 2010 and 2024.

Kim attributed the renewed widening of the gap mainly to slower wage growth among low-paid workers after 2020, linking the trend in part to a slowdown in minimum wage increases.

South Korea’s minimum wage rose by an annual average of 7.7 percent from 2010 to 2020, compared with 3.5 percent between 2020 and 2024.

“Prior to 2020, the minimum wage raised the relative wages of low-income workers, but this effect weakened after 2020,” Kim wrote. “The renewed widening of wage inequality after 2020 was driven mainly by the relative wage decline at the bottom of the distribution.”

The study, which looked at hourly rates rather than total pay, said the findings underscored the need for continued labor market policies aimed at reducing wage inequality.

“This suggests that mitigating wage inequality requires sustained labor market policies, including an appropriate minimum wage increase and improved conditions for non-regular workers,” it said.

The minimum wage rose by 16.8 percent in 2018, the third-largest increase on record, climbing by 1,060 won ($0.73) to 7,530 won per hour.

It exceeded 10,000 won for the first time in 2025, reaching 10,030 won, but that represented an increase of just 1.7 percent from the previous year.

The study also identified the aging of the workforce and growing job polarization as factors contributing to wage inequality. More employees are remaining in the workforce for longer, while the number of jobs requiring advanced skills is also increasing.

Government data released Wednesday showed that a record 10.36 million people aged 55 to 79 were employed. They had spent an average of more than 17 years in their longest-held job.

Kim also pointed to the growth of non-regular employment in the 2020s as another factor widening the pay gap. Non-regular workers generally face lower pay and less favorable working conditions than regular employees.

The aging workforce can contribute to inequality in different ways. Older employees who remain in long-held positions tend to earn relatively high salaries, while many retirees return to the labor market in lower-paid, short-term jobs.

Government data released last year showed that 3 million workers aged 60 or older were in non-regular employment, the highest figure on record.

minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com