A recent poll showed that people with office jobs in Korea spend over an average 1.5 million won ($1,400) every year on cash gifts for special occasions.

Monthly expenses on cash gifts was 129,000 won on average, coming to 1.55 million won per year, according to the research conducted by JobKorea on 819 office workers.

Male respondents spent 142,000 won a month, 20,000 won more than female respondents at 122,000 won. Meanwhile, the average expense for married office workers at 141,000 won exceeded that of unmarried workers by a small margin of 15,000 won.

Workers in their 20s spent 121,000 won on average, as 136,000 won was marked for those in their 30s and 151,000 won for ones in their 40s and over. The figures implicated a correlation between age and expenses on special occasions.

Among respondents, 53.1 percent said their expenses ranged between 50,000 won and 100,000 won, while 17 percent said 100,000 to 150,000 won, 12 percent under 50,000 won and 7.2 percent from 150,000 to 200,000 won.

About 90.4 percent responded positive to the question as to whether they felt burdened by attending special events. And 74.6 percent said they attend most such events, while 5.4 percent said they always attend. The average number of such occasions respondents attend was 1.8 per month.

By Ahn Sang-yool (koolsangon@heraldcorp.com)