지난해 최저임금도 못 받는 청년 68만 명... 평균 시급 겨우 5천972원<br /><br />South Korea's minimum wage was raised to about 6 U.S. dollars last year.<br />But many young workers reportedly are getting paid only around 80 percent of that amount.<br />Seo Bo-bin sheds light on this issue. <br />According to a report from the Korea Labor Institute, there are almost 6-hundred-80 thousand young people working for less than minimum wage.<br />That's 18-point-4 percent of people between the ages of 15 and 29, or almost one fifth of them.<br />Back in 2012, when the minimum wage was significantly lower, there were fewer than 380-thousand young workers getting less than minimum wage, but by 2016, that had ballooned to 625-thousand.<br />The next year it dipped by several thousand but shot up again in 2018, when the minimum wage was raised by 16 percent. <br />On average last year, those young people making less than the minimum got an average 5 U.S. dollars an hour, 20% less than they're legally entitled to.<br />Because of the higher minimum wage in the past couple of years, many employers are taking their chances and breaking the law.<br />The Moon administration appears to have conceded that its wage hikes need to slow down.<br />In the meantime, experts say the way to stop young people from being underpaid is to strengthen monitoring and enforcement, but that's easier said than done.<br />Seo Bo-bin, Arirang News.
