Policies · 2 sources combined
210,000 young people
unable to make first pension payment
In short
Over 210,000 young people enrolled in the National Pension have never paid a single premium.
Nine out of ten of them failed to pay due to unemployment.
The government plans to start a program supporting young people's first premium payments from January 2027.
Key facts
| When | Based on data as of end of 2025, the support program is scheduled to launch in January 2027. |
|---|---|
| Who | Among ages 18–34 local-area National Pension subscribers, 1,462,974 are exempt from premium payment. |
| What | Of these, 211,860 have never paid a premium since enrollment. |
| How | Reasons for exemption: unemployment 90.4%, student status 7.6%, business closure 0.9%. |
What it means for me
The longer the pension gap during youth, the smaller the old-age pension received later.
Past pension gaps from unemployment still affect current pension benefit calculations.
Self-employed workers with irregular income also lose contribution periods when exempted or in arrears.
