Six in 10 South Koreans believed couples can live together without getting married. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Nov. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – Six in 10 South Koreans over 13 years of age believe couples can live together or have children without getting married.
Statistics Korea conducted a survey of 38,000 South Koreans over 13 years of age, 59.7 percent of whom believed couples can live together without getting married.
The result was higher than the 45.9 percent reported in 2012, and is also up from 56.4 percent in 2018.
Among respondents, 30.7 percent believed they could have children without getting married, which was also higher than 22.4 percent in 2012 and 30.3 percent in 2018.
Another 51.2 percent believed that marriage is necessary, which was 3.1 percentage points higher than two years ago. Single women (22.4 percent) believed less in marriage than single men (40.8 percent).
On the topic of child rearing, 68 percent believed that married couples should have children, which was 1.6 percentage points lower than two years ago.
Three quarters of the respondents believed that wedding culture in South Korea was excessive, both in terms of cost and procedures.
There was a growing interest in adoption, as 19.9 percent were willing to consider adopting a child if childbirth proved to be difficult, and another 10.9 percent wanted to adopt a child regardless of whether they had children or not.
On the topic of housework, 62.5 percent believed it should be divided evenly between husband and wife, which was 3.4 percent point higher than two years ago.
In reality, however, only 20.7 percent of husbands said they were taking equal responsibility in housework, while only 20.2 percent of wives said likewise.
Between the ages of 19 and 29, however, 43.3 percent of husbands took care of housework as much as their wives, while 43.4 percent of wives did likewise.
The survey also showed that family members are playing a more important role in offering financial support for higher education, with 62.2 percent of college students paying for school tuition fees with the help of their parents or family, which was 2.5 percentage points higher than two years ago.
Paying for school tuition fees through scholarships (24.8 percent), student loans (7.3 percent), or income from working (5.7 percent) all decreased in proportion compared to two years ago.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
