The number of women getting married without a job or while they were still students has declined sharply over the past 10 years. (Image : Yonhap)
SEJONG, April 12 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of women getting married without a job or while they were still students has declined sharply over the past 10 years.
Experts say the phenomenon is caused by the bad economy, which forces both spouses to work for a living.
According to Statistics Korea, 102,915 women got married without a job (including students) last year, which was a 4.7 percent decrease compared to the 107,966 women tallied in 2014.
The number of jobless women who got married has continued to drop since 2011. The phenomenon could be caused by the declining number of marriages in the first place, but the decrease in the number of jobless women is more dramatic.
In 2011, 140,451 women got married without a job. The number dropped 4.3 percent during the same year, 8.6 percent in 2012, 6.3 percent in 2013 and 10.2 percent in 2014.
However, in 2005, more than half of the women (54 percent) who got married were not employed.
Officials at Statistics Korea comment that more women are getting married after getting a job, as two-income households are becoming more desirable each year. They also explain that the age that women are getting married at is continuously increasing.
The employment rate of women (between the ages of 15 to 64) last year was 55.7 percent, which was a 3.2 percentage point increase compared to the 52.5 percent in 2005.
Of note, the employment rate of women in their late 20s jumped from 63 percent to 68.6 percent, and for those in their early 30s it increased from 48.6 percent to 59.8 percent.
On the other hand, the number of stay-at-home moms continued to drop over the past two years.
The average age which women are getting married at increased to 30 from 27.7 in 2005. The numbers show that women who get married during or right after they finish their studies has decreased.
By M.H.Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
