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Worsening job-seeking conditions are leading more and more young workers to give up on major life decisions.

In the past, South Koreans talked of the “three sacrifices” - giving up on dating, marriage, and having children. Today, an increasing number are now making five sacrifices, with home-buying and interpersonal relationships added to the list.

Studies have known as many as half of South Koreans in their 20s and 30s sacrificing at least one of the five.

The employment portal site Saramin published results on Mar. 3 from a survey of 2,880 people in their 20s and 30s. When asked whether they had been forced to sacrifice dating, marriage, children, interpersonal relationships, or home-buying, a total of 1,660, or 57.6%, answered “yes.” The survey was conducted online between Feb. 2 and 12.

Marriage was the most frequently sacrificed, with 50.2% of respondents giving it as an answer (multiple answers accepted). It was following by home-buying (46.8%), children (45.9%), dating (43.1%), and interpersonal relationships (38.7%).

Among male respondents, marriage was again the most common sacrifice, cited by 53.2% (multiple answers permitted). Next in line were dating (48.5%), home-buying (47.2%), children (41.9%), and interpersonal relationships (40%). For female respondents, having children was the most frequently cited sacrifice, named by 50.7%. It was followed by marriage (46.5%), home-buying (46.3%), interpersonal relationships (37.1%), and dating (36.6%).

In terms of the time of the decision, 29.9% said they made the sacrifice when they first gained employment (29.9%). Another 16.4% said it was made during college, while 13.1% said “during school or earlier.”

The reason given most often for making the sacrifice was “lack of savings,” named by 49.8% of respondents (multiple answers accepted). The next choices were “lack of confidence” (35.1%) and “the desire not to pass poverty on to next generation” (31.6%).

Among respondents sacrificing marriage, 49.8% said they did so “because of all the things it would require, such as buying a home.” For child-raising, 72.8% cited the “excessive financial burden.” For home-buying, the top response was that it was “just not realistically possible,” given by 73%.

By Kim Jeong-pil, staff reporter

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