As the number of single-person households increases, eating alone at restaurants is no longer unusual scene in South Korea. Businesses are also getting accustomed to this changing trend. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jun. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — As more young people are putting off getting married or avoiding civil unions altogether, a survey has revealed that the number of single-person households is rising quickly, especially centered around those in their late 20s.
In addition, new statistics show that despite a decreasing number of temporary workers and day laborers living alone, these individuals still account for a high ratio of non-permanent employees compared to the entire working population.
According to Statistics Korea, the number of single-person households last year increased by 3.3 percent or 179,000 year on year to total 5.61 million households. As the number of single-person households grew faster than the number of families, the ratio of single-person households grew from 28.1 percent to 28.7 percent.
Read More: Average Monthly Expense for Single-person Household Exceeds Income
A breakdown of the working single-unit individuals saw the greatest percentage of middle-aged folks between 50 and 64 years of age at 26.5 percent, followed by 30-somethings (23.7 percent), 40-somethings (21 percent), and those from 15 to 29 years old (18.8 percent). Those over 65 years of age and living alone accounted for 10.1 percent of the entire single-household population.
The demographic shift and social change dictate how businesses are doing their jobs today. In reflection of this trend, the apples in this picture, slightly larger than a table tennis ball, aim with changing eating habits of the local single-person households who tend to consume small amount of foods. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
In terms of education levels, those who had at least a college degree accounted for 43.3 percent or 1.48 million of the single-unit households, and recent figures show that young people with higher levels of education are quickly accounting for a higher ratio of the population.
As statistics show that the number of single-person households comprised of people in their late 20s rose quickly last year, the rate of increase was twice that of 2016 (4.1 percent). The government said that the rise in the number of young workers living alone is due to the social phenomenon that finds younger people less likely to marry.
In addition, more people in their late 20s were found to be moving to smaller but innovative cities upon getting hired by a company.
Increasing number of single-person households has made the local businesses come up with custom items fitting into their lifestyle. Room&TV, LG Electronics’ recently introduced product should be among them that fuctions as both TV and monitor so as to save space, as well as curb dual spending. (Image courtesy of LG Elecs)
H. S. Seo (hsseo@koreabizwire.com)
