Top Demand: The most requested policy support from respondents was the "provision of financial assistance for qualification and language test application fees."

According to a "Job Preparation Cost Survey" released on the 19th—conducted by the Korea Economic Daily (KERI) through the polling firm Mono Research targeting 1,000 young adults nationwide aged 19 to 34 currently engaged in job hunting—the average monthly job preparation cost over the past three months was tallied at approximately 580,000 won.

By age group, respondents aged 30 to 34 spent the most at around 600,000 won per month. They were followed by those aged 25 to 29 (580,000 won) and 19 to 24 (560,000 won), showing that expenses grew larger as the age bracket increased. Classified by academic major, education, medicine, and health science majors shouldered the highest monthly cost at approximately 740,000 won. Arts and physical education majors followed at 690,000 won, natural sciences and engineering at 550,000 won, and humanities and social sciences at 520,000 won. Regarding targeted company types, those aiming for conglomerates (large corporations) spent the most at around 700,000 won per month, higher than those targeting mid-sized companies (630,000 won) and small and medium-sized enterprises (590,000 won).

Furthermore, the financial burden generally escalated the longer the job preparation period lasted. Young people who had been preparing for a job for three years or more faced monthly expenses of about 800,000 won, significantly higher than those preparing for less than 6 months (560,000 won) or between 6 months and 1 year (520,000 won). When asked about the degree of burden posed by these costs, 69.3% of respondents answered that it was "burdensome," while only 7.3% stated it was "not burdensome."

The category taking up the largest share of expenditures was qualification and language test application fees (30.7%). This was followed by education expenses (22.6%), textbook and learning material purchases (16.1%), transportation costs (12.4%), and space rental fees for cafes or study cafes (7.3%).

To cover these costs, respondents relied on support from parents and family members (32.8%), income from part-time jobs (29.5%), personal savings (27.3%), and government or local municipality subsidies (7.9%).

As for policy tasks to alleviate job preparation costs, respondents most frequently selected "support for qualification and language test application fees" (25.9%). Other prominent answers included "housing and monthly rent support" (16.7%), "provision of vouchers usable across overall job preparation" (16.1%), and "transportation cost support" (11.4%).

Lee Sang-ho, head of the Economic Research Division at KERI, remarked, "Amid the ongoing job crisis for youth, a significant number of young job seekers are experiencing financial strain during their preparation process. In particular, it is necessary to strengthen support for language and qualification test application fees and education tuition so that the economic burden on low-income youth can be eased."

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