According to the 2015 Judicature Yearbook issued by the Office of Court Administration, among the couples that got divorced last year, 58,073 (50.4 percent) were without children. (Image : Kobizmedia / Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Statistics show that the number of couples that get divorced without children make up more than half of the total number of divorces. ‘December divorces’, divorces after more than 20 years of marriage, are becoming a trend. On the other hand, only 307,000 couples got married last year, which was a new low.
According to the 2015 Judicature Yearbook issued by the Office of Court Administration, among the couples that got divorced last year, 58,073 (50.4 percent) were without children.
Among those who got divorced last year, 29,972 (26.0 percent) had one child, 23,344 (20.3 percent) had two, and 3,863 (3.3 percent) had more than three children.
The portion of those getting divorced without children was 46 percent in 2010, rising every year. The rate reached 48.7 percent in 2013 and exceeded 50 percent for the first time last year.
Furthermore, the increasing number of ‘December divorces’ shows that they are also becoming a trend. The number of couples that got divorced after 20 years of marriage was 33,140, which was 28.7 percent of the total number of divorces.
The divorce rate for the elderly has increased every year since 2010 (23.8 percent). In 2012, the rate was 26.4 percent, exceeding the portion of divorces among newlyweds who have been married for less than five years. The number of newlyweds that got divorced last year was 27,162 (23.5 percent).
Likewise, the portion of couples that get divorced after less than five years of marriage has kept dropping since reaching 27 percent in 2010. The reason for the decrease can be explained by a drop in the number of marriages. The number of marriages registered last year was 307,489, which was the lowest in the past 10 years. It was an 11.7 percent reduction compared to the 348,229 marriages that were registered in 2007.
The total number of divorces reported last year was 115,889, with 93,708 couples divorcing through consultation, and 22,181 going through court procedures.
‘Difference in personalities’ was the top reason for divorce (45.8 percent). ‘Economical problems’ (11.6 percent), ‘Unfaithful spouse’ (7.6 percent), ‘Family feud’ (7.1 percent) and ‘physical and mental abuse’ (4 percent) followed behind.
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
