More than a quarter of South Koreans are open to the idea of having children out of wedlock, a survey showed Wednesday. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 7 (Korea Bizwire) — More than a quarter of South Koreans are open to the idea of having children out of wedlock, a survey showed Wednesday.
About 26.2 percent of those surveyed said they are not adverse to the notion, according to the survey of 3,000 people conducted by the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education (KICCE) in November.
Those aged between 15 and 19 were the most favorably inclined with an approval rating reaching 44.9 percent.
Those in their 20s came in second at 34.7 percent, followed by those in their 30s at 32.1 percent.
The comparable figure for generally conservative people in their 60s was 14 percent.
Slightly over half (56.6 percent) of those questioned said they would prefer to get married, while 40.1 percent said they do not care whether they marry or not.
Of those surveyed, only 3.2 percent said they prefer not to get married.
By gender, 67.8 percent of males said they want to have a wife, while the number for females wishing to tie the knot stood at 45.1 percent.
The latest findings show that 38.8 percent of those aged between 15 and 19 and 49.9 percent of those in their 20s said they would prefer to get married.
The comparable figures were 60.3 percent for those in their 50s and 78.1 percent for those in their 60s.
On childbirth, 78.3 percent agreed to the idea that having children should come after marriage, while 19.2 percent said they prefer not having children at all.
About 46.8 percent of those who wanted children said psychological satisfaction is why they want to raise children.
About 44.2 percent cited happiness and family harmony as the reason to have children.
Only 3.7 percent said they want to have children to preserve their family lineage.
As for reasons not to have children, 26.4 percent said they were not confident that they will become good parents.
Other reasons for not having children were to maintain economic freedom (20.7 percent), live independent lives free of child-rearing (17.0 percent) and enjoy life as a couple (13.4 percent).
(Yonhap)
