[Monitor] Debt burden rises among self-employed in 20s, 60s

Self-employed people in their 20s and 60s face a higher risk of defaulting on loans from financial institutions due to their increased debt burdens, the Korea Institute of Finance said in the report on household debt.

The loan-to-income ratio for those in their 20s jumped to 173.9 percent as of May, this year, from 111.6 percent seven years earlier. Those for 60-somethings surged to 286.5 percent from 208.1 percent during the same time period. LTI is the percentage of monthly gross income that goes toward paying debts and is used to measure consumers’ ability to repay debts.

The institute said high youth unemployment and an increase in the number of sexagenarians were the reasons why LTIs were much higher among the age groups.