Investing in Youth: Korea

Description

The series Investing in Youth builds on the expertise of the OECD on youth employment, social support and skills. It covers both OECD countries and key emerging economies. The report on Finland presents new results from a comprehensive analysis of the situation of young people in Finland, exploiting various sources of survey-based and administrative data. It provides a detailed assessment of education, employment and social policies in Finland from an international perspective, and offers tailored recommendations to help improve the school-to-work transition. Earlier reviews in the same series have looked at youth policies in Brazil (2014), Latvia and Tunisia (2015), Australia, Lithuania and Sweden (2016), Japan (2017), Norway (2018) and Peru (2019). Foreword Acknowledgements Acronyms and abbreviations Executive summary Key policy recommendations Assessment and Recommendations How do youth fare in the Korean labour market? Supporting young people in a weakening labour market Reducing the gap between skill supply and demand Guiding students to improve educational choices Promoting upper secondary vocational education Ensuring quality tertiary education Supporting companies in altering their recruitment practices Improving support for young people Expanding the social safety net Offering adequate employment support for young unemployed Monitoring support for in-work poverty Facilitating access to affordable housing Addressing labour and product market duality 1 Youth employment and education in Korea 1.1. Introduction 1.2. The economic context 1.3. The education and employment performance situation of Korean youth 1.3.1. Youth labour market outcomes 1.3.2. Educational investment 1.3.3. The NEET challenge 1.3.4. Job search and tenure 1.3.5. Job quality and earnings 1.3.6. Skill and study mismatch 1.4. Youth poverty and well-being 1.5. Wrap-up References Notes 2 Reducing the gap between skill supply and demand in Korea Introduction 2.1. Guiding students to improve educational choices 2.1.1. Strong societal preference for general education 2.1.2. The government has increased investments in career counselling 2.1.3. Relatively small adjustments could boost career counselling’s pay-offs Safeguarding the quality of career counselling Adapting to the needs of disadvantaged youth Involving employers 2.2. Promoting upper secondary vocational education 2.2.1. Skill shortages are common in SMEs and for occupations requiring an upper secondary education 2.2.2. Several initiatives aim to make upper secondary vocational education more attractive 2.2.3. The relevance of upper secondary vocational education needs to be strengthened Boost the relevance and quality of vocational upper secondary schools Broaden the scope of apprenticeships Lower the costs and increase the pay-offs from apprenticeships 2.3. Ensuring quality tertiary education 2.3.1. Korean tertiary education institutes vary greatly in quality 2.3.2. The Korean government seeks to align tertiary education offers and market demands 2.3.3. Quality assurance in tertiary education can be strengthened Continue to broaden university entry requirements Strengthen quality and labour market relevance through reporting Focalise institutions’ profiles and further co-operation with employers Integrate entrepreneurship education into tertiary curricula 2.4. Supporting companies in altering recruitment practices 2.4.1. Companies rarely use competency-based hiring 2.4.2. National Competency Standards may help job candidates exhibit their skills and companies lower their recruitment costs 2.5. Round-up and policy recommendations Create more intensive, inclusive and cooperative career counselling and guidance Redesign secondary vocational education and training to provide more practical skills Ensuring quality tertiary education Altering companies’ recruitment practices References Notes 3 Supporting youth in a weakening labour market 3.1. Youth performance in a weakening labour market 3.2. Improving support for young people 3.2.1. OECD Action Plan for Youth 3.2.2. Small but growing welfare system 3.2.3. Social safety net for young people Employment Insurance is not very generous, except for low-wage youth One in three young workers are not covered by Employment Insurance Support provided by social assistance is very restricted A better social safety net for young adults is needed 3.2.4. Effective employment support but with narrow reach Customised activation support needs to be further expanded In-work benefits are now available for youth 3.2.5. Housing support targeted at youth 3.3. Addressing labour market duality 3.3.1. Balanced employment protection legislation 3.3.2. Segmented product market 3.4. Round-up and policy recommendations Expanding the social safety net for youth Offering adequate employment support for young unemployed Monitoring support for in-work poverty Facilitating access to affordable housing Addressing labour market duality References Notes Blank Page