The “Teens’ Diary” report, which surveyed 3,729 teenagers aged 14-18 nationwide, revealed that 83.9% of female students believe dating costs should be split exactly halfway, compared to 50.6% of male students. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — A stark gender divide exists among South Korean teenagers regarding dating expenses, with young women overwhelmingly favoring equal cost-sharing while young men show more traditional views, according to a lifestyle report released by Woori Bank on January 23.
The “Teens’ Diary” report, which surveyed 3,729 teenagers aged 14-18 nationwide, revealed that 83.9% of female students believe dating costs should be split exactly halfway, compared to 50.6% of male students. When exact splitting proves difficult, 45.6% of male students felt men should pay more, while only 14% of female students shared this view.
“This suggests that traditional perspectives, where men bear greater financial responsibility, continue to influence male students more significantly,” Woori Bank analysts noted in the report.
The survey also explored attitudes toward “dating accounts” — joint bank accounts for sharing dating expenses. Male students showed greater interest, with 44.3% viewing them positively compared to 34.2% of female students. Among those opposed, 34% of female students cited the hassle of setting up such accounts, while 27.6% of male students expressed discomfort with splitting costs equally.
The report also shed light on how Korean teenagers connect and consume media. Social media account exchanges (70.3%) surpassed phone number exchanges (57.5%) as the preferred method of sharing contact information, with Instagram dominating at 97.5% among social media platforms. Other platforms showed significantly lower usage: X at 9%, TikTok at 3.8%, Facebook at 3.4%, and Telegram at 0.8%.
Despite Instagram’s popularity for initial connections, KakaoTalk remains the most used messaging platform at 89.6%, followed by Instagram Direct Messenger (84.1%), X Direct Messages (16.1%), Facebook Messenger (5.8%), and Telegram (1.8%).
For content consumption, YouTube leads at 85.7%, followed closely by Instagram at 80%. Other platforms trail significantly, with X at 34.5%, TikTok at 29.8%, and Facebook at 4.7%.
The complete report is available on Woori Bank’s website.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
