Young South Koreans generally tend to be less happy the longer they work, reports The Korea Herald, citing a report published by the Korea Labour Institute. The amount of labour that employees aged 34 or younger are most satisfied with is between 15 and 40 hours a week. Researcher Park Ju-sang, of the Korea Labour & Society Institute took the data from the Korean Employment Information Service and categorised South Korean employees aged 34 or younger, based on how much time they worked in a week: under 15 hours, 15-40 hours, 41-52 hours, and over 52 hours. He found that 59.4% of those working 15-40 hours a week answered that they are satisfied with their life, while 50.4% of those working 41-52 hours, and 45.4% who worked over 52 hours said so. The satisfaction rate of the group that worked the least, less than 15 hours a week, was 52.3%, showing that working less does not always mean a happier life.

The number who said they were dissatisfied with life, however, went up with work hours. The percentage of people who said they were not satisfied with life was 7.4% for the two groups with the shortest working hours, followed by 13.9% for those working 41-52 hours a week, and 17% for those working longer. Other factors that affected happiness were marriage, education, and the wealth of their parents.