Only half of South Koreans believe marriage is essential: Study

SEOUL - Just over half of South Koreans believe getting married is essential, according to a government study released recently, which also showed that a growing proportion of people say it is alright for couples to live together without tying the knot.

According to Statistics Korea’s annual study on Korean society, 52.5 per cent of South Koreans said people should get married, while 41.5 per cent said it is a matter of choice and 3.3 per cent said they should remain single. The percentage of those who believe people must get married dropped from 56.8 per cent in 2014.

The study is based on a survey of 36,000 people aged 13 and above living in 19,000 households across the country, conducted between May 15 and 30 this year.

Men were more likely than women to think of marriage as essential, with 58.3 per cent of men being pro-marriage as compared to 46.8 per cent of women.

Among unmarried respondents, 41.6 per cent of men said people should get married while only 26 per cent of women agreed with that.

When asked why they are not getting married, 31.3 per cent of the unmarried respondents cited the lack of financial resources to do so, followed by 15.4 per cent who cited the burden of giving birth and raising children. Another 12.9 per cent said they cannot get married because of their unstable employment status, and 11.3 per cent said they simply do not feel the need to get married.

Among singles, 38 per cent of men said they cannot get married because they do not have enough money, while 25 per cent of women said the same. This discrepancy is likely linked to the Korean tradition in which the groom’s family is expected to shoulder more of the financial burden of the wedding and housing for the couple than that of the bride.

On the flipside, 14.4 per cent of women cited childbirth and child care as the reasons they are not getting married, as opposed to 11 per cent of men. This difference is probably linked to the traditional Korean expectation that marrying requires women to have children, and the expectation that they must shoulder the responsibility for their care.

The survey also showed that an increasing percentage of South Koreans are becoming open to couples living together without getting married first, from 46.6 per cent in 2014 to 67.4 per cent in 2024. Unlike in the past, the majority of South Koreans are becoming more open to pre-marital cohabitation, or living together with no plans to marry.

A separate survey by Hankook Research on 1,000 adults released in April showed that 54 per cent of respondents said it was fine for couples to live together if they have immediate plans to get married, 30 per cent said it was fine for them to do so no matter their marriage plans and only 16 per cent said unmarried couples living together should not be tolerated. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK