The biggest reason why they did not want to get married was because “being alone is comfortable”, according to 71.5 percent of the respondents. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — A recent survey has found that many unmarried men and women in South Korea feel that marriage avoidance in Korean society is a serious social issue, but most believe that marriage is not necessary.
According to a survey of 1,000 unmarried men and women aged 19 to 44 conducted last year by Gayeon Matchmaking Consulting Service, 67.4 percent said they thought Korean society has a serious aversion to marriage.
Some 23.6 percent of the respondents said the level of avoiding marriage was normal, followed by 9 percent who thought it was not serious.
On the other hand, only 21.3 percent said marriage was a necessity, while 78.7 percent said people do not have to get married depending on the circumstances.
The biggest reason why they did not want to get married was because “being alone is comfortable”, according to 71.5 percent of the respondents.
This was followed by 54.5 percent of respondents citing “costly childbirth and childcare.”
Some 42.6 percent chose “costly wedding ceremony and newly-married life” and 38.8 percent chose “not a lot of happy married couples around” as the reasons as not to get married.
Some cited “because I do not want to follow the current marriage system,” accounting for 22.7 percent. In particular, the response rate was far higher among women, at 33.8 percent, than among men, at 11.2 percent.
Women accounted for 47.5 percent of the respondents, compared with 29.7 percent for men, who said most of their acquaintances appeared to be unhappy in marriage.
On what efforts they were making to get married, 47.7 percent of respondents met potential marriage partners through family and acquaintances, 18.8 percent through community and community gatherings and 10.4 percent through dating sites.
On whether they would be willing to marry foreigners if they had the chance, 38.3 percent of the respondents said they were willing to do so, and 34.8 percent said they were not willing to do so.
“We do not think unmarried men and women must get married anymore, and we do not have any objection to getting married to foreigners,” an official from Gayeon said.
“Compared to the past, we feel like we are recognizing diversity.”
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
