(image: Kobizmedia/ Korea Wizwire)
SEOUL, June 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of double-income households in South Korea moved up in 2022 from a year earlier, data showed, amid the eased COVID-19 restrictions.
Double-income households came to 5.84 million in October 2022, up 20,000 from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.
They made up 46.1 percent of the 12.69 million married households, up 0.2 percentage point over the period.
Among them, 87.7 percent lived together, which indicates a 0.5 percentage point rise from the previous year. In these households, the average weekly working hours were 40.2 hours for males and 34.9 hours for females.
The data showed that 35.6 percent of double-income partners living together worked in the same industry.
The number of families with both partners working with children aged below 18 came to 2.16 million, down 79,000 from a year earlier, reflecting the country’s low birth rate. They made up 53.3 percent of all married couples with kids.
The proportion of families with two earners stood at 47.5 percent when the youngest child was six years old or below. However, the proportion significantly increased to 59.4 percent when the youngest child reached the age of 13 or above.
By region, double-income families accounted for the largest portion at 63.5 percent on the southern resort island of Jeju, followed by South Jeolla Province with 56.4 percent and the central city of Sejong with 55.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the report also said that the number of single-member households reached 7.22 million in 2022, marking a rise of 184,000 compared with the previous year.
Some 63 percent of such households were employed, marking a 1.3 percentage point rise during the period.
Among the employed single-member households, 15 percent worked in the manufacturing sector, followed by the wholesale and retail industry with 10.6 percent.
Approximately 35 percent of employed single-member households earned a monthly income ranging from 2 million won (US$1,558) to 3 million won, while 23.7 percent received paychecks between 3 million won to 4 million won.
(Yonhap)
