The growing unemployment rate of the young may be another reason. (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, June 21 (Korea Bizwire) – The average ages of both South Korean men and women at the time of their first marriages have reached record highs, a market report said Tuesday, suggesting economic issues as a possible reason.
According to the report from local matchmaking firm Duo, the average age of men who met their wives through matchmaking companies and tied the knot for the first time came to 35.8 years between June 2014 and May 2016.
The two-year average marked an increase of 33.4 years tallied 10 years earlier, according to the report.
The average age of women at first marriage also rose by 2.4 years over the cited period to 32.7.
The findings were in line with an earlier report from state-run Statistics Korea, which said the average age of all South Korean males at the time of their first marriage reached a record high of 32.6 years in 2016, with that of females also climbing to a record high of 30 years the same year.
Duo officials said the rise in average marriage age may have to do with growing prices that apparently require young people to work longer to save enough money to start a marriage.
The growing unemployment rate of the young may be another reason.
Currently, the jobless rate of those aged between 15 and 20 years remains at around 10 percent after peaking at an all-time high of 12.5 percent in February. In May, the unemployment rate for young people stood at 9.7 percent, compared with 3.7 percent for all eligible workers.
The Duo report showed the average annual income of its male members who got married between the two-year period of 2014 to 2015 was at 64.03 million won (US$55,341), with that of female members coming to 41.04 million won.
(Yonhap)
