Generation rent on the housing treadmill: A study on South Korea's housing allowance programmes and recurring precarity

Abstract

Given the ongoing economic crisis and the increase in housing prices, many young adults —known as “generation rent”—use a large portion of their wages for rent and cannot buy a house. In South Korea, generation rent in lower income brackets are particularly vulnerable to overlapping precarities as housing inequality worsens. In response, South Korean local governments have offered housing allowance programmes since 2019, but studies on the impact of housing allowance on young adults are scant. This article examines how and to what extent housing allowance for young adults relieves precarity through a grounded theory approach. Eighteen young adults who benefit from the programme participated in in‐depth interviews. Results show that after living independently, participants experienced multidimensional precarity: housing, financial, professional and social support exclusion. To alleviate their precarity, they applied for a housing allowance programme, thereby experiencing changes. Although their precarity was reduced, it was not entirely allayed because of the programme's short duration, which kept them stuck on the “housing treadmill.”