This file photo taken on Oct. 14, 2020, shows pedestrians in downtown Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — The younger generation of people who want to engage in a romantic relationship, get married, and start a family but believe that there is a low chance of doing so have a relatively higher proportion of men leaning towards the political right, a study showed Sunday.
The Institute for Social Development and Policy Research at Seoul National University conducted a survey of 817 young adults between the ages of 20 and 34.
The study asked about the possibility of engaging in a romantic relationship, getting married and giving birth to a child on a score of 1 to 10 and divided the respondents into six groups based on the results.
The ‘anti-marriage’ group accounted for 13.1 percent (107 people) of all respondents.
Although they gave a score of more than 3 points to the possibility of engaging in a romantic relationship, they gave a score of fewer than 2 points to the possibility of getting married or giving birth to a child.
Among them, 62 percent were women, the largest proportion of women among all groups. Another 44 percent were politically progressive, while only 9 percent were politically conservative, which was the lowest proportion among all groups.
The ‘discrepancy group’, comprising 3.8 percent (31 people) of all respondents, showed the exact opposite features.
They gave a score higher than 4 points to the preference of engaging in a romantic relationship, getting married and giving birth to a child, the second highest among all groups.
However, they gave a score of 1 or less to their possibility of realization, which was the lowest among all groups.
Almost two thirds of the ‘discrepancy group’ were male, the highest male proportion among all groups, while 32 percent leaned towards being politically conservative, which was double the average level (16 percent).
The report said that the discrepancy group resembles the incels (involuntary celibates), rising as a new social problem in the United States.
“Their perspective towards the future takes an important part in forming their thoughts about marriage and childbirth,” said Kim Seok-ho, a sociology professor at Seoul National University who spearheaded the research.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
