More than 70 percent of millennials and Generation Z in South Korea believe that wealth and income is distributed unequally throughout society, a survey showed Tuesday.

The study released by Deloitte Anjin showed that some 73 percent of millennials and 76 percent of Gen Z in Korea recognized wealth and income inequality as a major concern. This surpasses the 69 percent and 66 percent response from global millennials and Gen Z, respectively, towards the same issue.

While millennials and Gen Z in Korea pointed to laws, regulations, and policies that maintain a system to favor business and the wealthy as a key factor behind inequality, they maintained a conservative stance towards government intervention in resolving inequality, Deloitte Anjin said.

“Korean millennials and Gen Z’s support of drafting of bills that could close the gap between employees and employers, levy heavier tax on the wealthy, protect minimum wage and other forms of government intervention were noticeably lackluster compared with global respondents,” the report said.

Besides income inequality, the Korean millennials and Gen Z picked health issues tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, economic growth and jobs as their main concerns. But while the millennials here prioritized climate change over job and career concerns, the Gen Z expressed more worries of their employment. Some 30 percent of Gen Z picked career as a major issue, while 25 percent of millennials responded such way.

The Korean respondents projected a rosier economic outlook for the near-future, compared with last year, despite expressing high concerns of personal welfare. Some 22 percent of millennials said the economy would improve “in the next 12 months” compared with 13 percent last year, while 21 percent of Gen Z responded the same way compared with 14 percent last year.

The percentage of global millennials that said the economy would improve declined by 1 percentage point on-year this year to 27 percent.

“In past years, the Millennial Survey has revealed that these younger generations want to work for companies with a purpose beyond profit—companies that share their values — and that they feel more empowered to make a difference as part of organizations,” the global survey released in English by Deloitte said.

“Knowing that, business leaders should actively help millennials and Gen Zs channel their determination and focus their efforts to create the future they seek—a future that’s more responsible regarding the planet, more empathetic toward populations around the world, and more supportive of equality.”

The survey focused on the views of Korean millennials and Gen Z extracting data from its parent group‘s study on global millennials and Gen Z.

The global survey involved 22,928 millennials, born between 1983-1994 and Gen Z, born between 1995-2003, in 45 nations, including Korea. Of the total, 502 were Korean. The survey was conducted between Feb. 8-18.

By Jung Min-kyung (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)