Loneliness Also Has a Wealth Gap: The Lower the Income, the Lonelier People Feel and the Less Satisfied They Are With Relationships

According to Financial News, people with lower incomes tend to feel loneliness more intensely. The figures suggest that economic conditions are affecting not only emotional stability but also people’s sense of social connection.
Data from the 2025 Social Survey by the Ministry of Data and Statistics (KOSTAT) and the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS), released on the 2nd, show this pattern. Among people aged 13 and older last year, the share of those who said they "usually feel lonely" rose as income fell.
In households earning less than 1 million won per month, 57.6% reported feeling lonely, about 20 percentage points higher than the overall average of 38.2%. Compared with households earning 6 million won or more per month, where the rate was 33.0%, the level was roughly 1.7 times higher.
The frequency of loneliness also increased as income decreased. Among households earning under 1 million won, 12.0% said they "often" feel lonely, nearly twice the rate of the next group, households earning 1 million to under 2 million won (6.6%).
As income rose, the proportion of people who felt lonely declined step by step: 44.9% for 1 million to under 2 million won, 39.7% for 2 million to under 3 million won, 36.7% for 3 million to under 5 million won, and 32.3% for 5 million to under 6 million won.
By age group, those aged 80 and older stood out, with 52.2% reporting loneliness. People in their 50s and 70s (41.7% each) and those in their 60s (39.5%) also recorded around 40%.
Income gaps were also evident in satisfaction with personal relationships. Only 37.8% of households earning less than 1 million won per month were satisfied with their relationships, while the figure reached 65.7% among households earning 6 million won or more, the highest level. The difference—about 1.7 times—shows that satisfaction rises steadily as income increases.
sms@fnnews.com Reporter Sung Min-seo Reporter