MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th May, 2020) South Korea's low-income earners are more anxious about the ongoing economic disruption caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which could potentially lead to further economic inequality in the country, domestic media reported on Wednesday citing a fresh poll.
The latest findings come from a poll of 1,056 adults that was commissioned by the Seoul-based Joongmin Foundation for Social Theory. According to the poll, 56.1 percent of those in temporary jobs felt that their employment status was unstable, compared to just 27.9 of those in regular jobs, the Yonhap news agency reported.
"COVID-19 can serve as a mechanism to further exacerbate economic inequality in that income declines attributable to self-quarantine and job instability are more serious in the low-income bracket," Shin Kyu-ho, a researcher at the Joongmin Foundation said, as quoted by the agency.
Researchers also found that low-income earners were more likely to experience economic losses if they were required to spend 14 days in self isolation than those who earn over $81,000 annually, the agency stated.
In a separate poll that surveyed 420 residents of the city of Daegu and the surrounding North Gyeongsang province, which became the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, 56.4 percent of respondents stated that they experienced an immediate decline in their income in recent months. This was more than 10 percentage points higher than the national average, the agency stated.
South Korea has been praised for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as only 11,265 cases have been reported since the start of the outbreak. A rapid and consistent fall in the rate of infection allowed the government to begin easing some of the lockdown measures in April, although concerns were raised after a cluster of more than 230 cases linked to Seoul's night club scene emerged in mid-May.
Public health authorities in the country reported 40 new cases of the disease on Wednesday, the largest single-day rise in nearly two months.
