Only 30 percent of Korean women in 20s have intention of getting married

Only 3 out of 10 single Korean women in their 20s and 30s saw marriage as a must-do requirement or a preferred option according to a recent survey.

A report titled “The Korean Social Trends” issued by the Statistics Korea on Friday found that 27.5 percent of unmarried women in their 20s regarded getting married as positive as of last year, less than half the figure (48.6 percent) recorded 10 years ago. Likewise, only 31.8 percent of women in their 30s answered that finding a spouse is an essential part of life or they prefer to get married, 10.6 percent points down from 2012.

Similarly, less than half of men in their 20s and 30s - 41.9 percent and 48.7 percent, respectively - saw married life in a positive way. Compared to 10 years ago, the share of these groups went down by 25.1 and 13.6 percent points, respectively, showing a greater decrease than their female counterparts. This implies that men in their 20s and 30s have changed their perspective of marriage more rapidly than women of the same age brackets. More than 30 percent of the respondents attributed their unwillingness to get married to not being prepared financially, making it the biggest reason not to get married in the survey.


kalssam35@donga.com