Young people’s deprived lives and crisis experiences in poor residential environments: Focusing on young people living in basements, rooftop rooms, and gosiwons

This study focused on the experiences of young people living in basements, rooftop rooms, and gosiwons, which represent poor living environments. Based on this, the purpose is to suggest an approach to effectively solve the poor housing problem of young people by taking an in-depth approach to the meaning of home formed by poor residential environments, life in vulnerable housing, and crisis experiences. As a result of in-depth interviews with young people who have lived or are currently living in basement rooms, rooftop rooms, and gosiwons, home was a temporary place for young people, and the poor living environment was the price they had to pay to achieve their dreams, but it was a proof of survival that they survived and lived hard. In particular, the risk of poor housing environments was aggravated in crisis situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic and torrential rain, but the driving force in overcoming this situation was community values and solidarity, not housing support policies. Accordingly, it is necessary to supplement the contents of the housing survey to accurately understand the current situation of young people who are threatened in poor spaces, and to shift from a policy centered on loan support to reducing the burden of housing costs for happy housing and youth-safe housing, and expanding support targets. In addition, we propose expanding the scope of the youth housing support policy and forming a citizen participation monitoring group that can monitor and check the implementation of the youth housing support policy. Lastly, we propose building an online platform where young people can share their poor housing experiences and seek alternatives based on community values.