[Society] 62% of those in 20s want to emigrate

[Overview] 85% say nation is going wrong

People's discontent with the factors that constitute quality of life -- namely medical services, public safety, leisure, welfare and so on -- remains unabated compared with three months ago.

As for the medical care environment, 78.5 percent of those in the survey replied that it was not good, and only 21.3 percent of them responded that it was good. However, negative responses have somewhat decreased from three months ago, when the medical profession staged work stoppages following a dispute between doctors and pharmacists over the separation of their roles.

On the question whether our society is safe from crimes and other threats to safety, 78.3 percent of respondents said no, while 21.6 percent replied yes. Apparently influenced by deteriorating political and economic stability, the negative replies increased, compared with the first opinion survey three months ago (71.5 percent). Such a trend is conspicuous among women and elderly people.

With regard to environment for leisure activities, 33.8 percent gave affirmative answers, while as many as 65.6 percent offered negative reactions with people in rural communities more pessimistic than the urban populace.

In reply to the question of their assessment on the social welfare standards, compared to the amount of tax payments, 87.8 percent of the respondents showed negative reactions with 20 percent saying very bad and 67.1 percent relatively bad. As for their complaints about the environment for leisure and welfare standards, the result of the second survey this time remained similar to the first opinion poll.

Asked if our society in general is a good one for living, 75.7 percent replied that it is not good for living, and 24. 2 percent registered affirmative responses.

Regarding the complaints about quality of life, elderly recorded the negative reactions with the increasing proportion according to their ages. For instance, 84 percent of the people aged 50 or older answered, "it is not a good place to live."

Commenting on the factors that damaged the quality of life, they enumerated the following: structural reform (9.8 percent), medical doctors' strike (9.7 percent), political instability (8.6 percent), economic downturn (7.9 percent), unemployment (7.4 percent), inflation (7.0 percent) and union strikes (6.6 percent).

Compared with the first survey, economic difficulties pose a serious question, involving the process of restructuring and resultant joblessness, as well as strikes.

On the question about the willingness to emigrate to foreign countries, if such opportunities were available, 44.5 percent said that they wish to do so, showing a slight increase from the previous survey of 43 percent. Notable is the fact that the increased number of younger people in their 20s showed willingness for emigration from 56 percent in the first survey to 62 percent in the second polls.

Na Sun-Mi, specialist at Dong-a Media Research Institute