Korean youth abandon YOLO lifestyle

The event planning company director said housing and food costs dominate her spending. “If I don’t have an appointment, I try not to eat out,” Choi said. “And if I have two appointments in a week, that’s a red flag that I need to adjust my spending.”

Like Choi, a growing number of young Koreans are shifting their spending habits, becoming more frugal.

Over the past decade, the YOLO (You Only Live Once) lifestyle of young Koreans has taken over the mainstream, characterized by prioritizing spending on current happiness over investing in an uncertain future.

But the spending party is over, they are forming a new lifestyle called YONO You Only Need One, a term that describes a limited consumption style, reducing unnecessary things.

“The idea of ​​spending money to invest in yourself or to enjoy yourself for social recognition is gone,” Choi said. Those who enjoy omakase, Japan’s expensive form of dining, have moved on to other things.

High inflation and low incomes have made young Koreans rethink their spending. They need to spend on more essential things. Data from Statistics Korea shows that from 2021 to 2023, inflation rates were 2.5%, 5.1% and 3.6%, respectively. At the same time, annual wage increases were only 2.5%, 0.9% and 1.6%.

An analysis of credit card transaction data from NongHyup Bank shows a clear differentiation. The number of dining transactions by young people in their 20s and 30s fell 9% in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year. Instead, spending on food at convenience stores increased 21%.

Department store transactions fell 3% and at high-end coffee brands such as Starbucks and A Twosome Place, they also fell 13%. Meanwhile, imported car purchases fell 11% and domestic car purchases rose 34%.

In a report by the Federation of Korean Industries, experts analyzed that inflation mainly affects areas where young people spend the most, leading to a direct increase in living costs for those preparing to enter the workforce or those with low incomes.

"Young people are the group feeling the most economic squeeze among all age groups," the report said.

This anxiety also affects young people's concerns about wealth management.

“We are a generation that has to work for life because we have to prepare for our own retirement,” said Lee, a 30-year-old office worker. “I would rather use the money for investments than waste it.”