Silent Marriage? 40 Percent of Married Couples Talk Less Than 30 min a Day

A recent study has revealed that four out of ten married couples in Korea talk less than 30 minutes a day with their spouses. Having a spouse that routinely comes home late and the use of smartphones were identified as the main causes of the phenomenon. (Image : Pixabay)

SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent study has revealed that four out of ten married couples in Korea talk less than 30 minutes a day with their spouses. Having a spouse that routinely comes home late and the use of smartphones were identified as the main causes of the phenomenon.

The Planned Population Federation of Korea announced the results of its ’2015 Survey on the Awareness of Low Birth Rates’, a mobile survey conducted on 1,516 married people between the ages of 20 and 50.

The survey results showed that 30 percent of the respondents spent 10 to 30 minutes talking to their spouses, while 12.1 percent answered ‘less than 10 minutes’. Another 33.3 percent responded that they talked with their spouses for somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour, and 24.6 percent answered that they had conversations lasting more than an hour.

The respondents pointed out that ‘coming home late and working on the weekends’ was the biggest factor that prevented couples from talking to each other (29.8 percent). ‘Spending time individually on the TV, computer or smartphone’ ranked second (23.9 percent), and ‘having no time alone because of the kids’ followed (20.9 percent).

The things couples talked about – if they actually had a chance to talk – were mainly ‘how the children are doing, and their future’ (62.3 percent). In second place, 24.3 percent answered that they talked about ‘work’, and 10.7 percent answered that they talked about ‘their relationship’.

On ways to make up after a fight, 44.1 percent answered that they ‘wait until the other is not mad anymore and make things happen naturally’, while 39.5 percent answered they ‘expressed their feelings in words’, and 13.6 percent answered that they had ‘make-up sex’.

Officials from the Planned Population Federation of Korea commented on the results of the survey. “Since communication between married couples is cut off due to many reasons, and since work has been pointed out as a main contributing factor, work-family compatibility through shared duties is important.”

By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)