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15% of young singles don’t plan to get married

A large majority of Koreans think that marriage is a choice, and one out of every seven single men and women say they do not intend to get married. These were the results of a poll carried out by Job Korea and Albamon, a website advertising part-time jobs, on Apr. 12, in which 1,141 adult men and women were asked about their marriage plans.

The percentage of single women who said they were not planning to get married was higher than single men, and this percentage tended to be higher among younger people.

When asked how they think about marriage, 85% of respondents said that marriage is a choice. This percentage was higher among women (92.9%) than men (72.8%). By age group, this was the response given by 86.7% of people in their twenties, 83.5% in their thirties and 84.1% in their forties. The view that marriage is optional was more common among men than women and was more prevalent among younger people.

When 1,016 single men and women were polled about their marriage plans, only three out of ten (33.3%) said they were planning to get married. In contrast, one out of seven (15%) said they would not get married, and a majority (51.7%) said they were currently not planning to get married but that they might change their mind in the future.

When single men and women were asked why they are disinclined to get married, a majority of respondents (68.3%, multiple answers allowed) said that they wanted freedom both in their work and personal lives. This answer was the most common both among single men (69.2%) and single women (67.9%).

The second most common reason given by single men was that their living expenses would increase if they got married and that they wanted less financial pressure (47.5%). Others reasons were the concern that it would be hard to invest time and money in themselves after getting married (39.9%), the pressure of bearing and raising children (35.9%) and the being accustomed to and satisfied with their current lifestyle (30.3%).

For single women, the second most common reason was the concern that it would be hard to invest time and money in themselves after getting married (46.5%). In addition, women cited the pressure of bearing and raising children, (38.1%), increasing responsibilities after getting married such as taking part in all kinds of family occasions (38.1%) and being accustomed to and satisfied with their current lifestyle (27.9%).

When asked what is most essential for remaining single, eight out of 10 single men and women selected a stable place of employment and fixed income (86.7%, multiple answers allowed). Other popular requirements were hobbies to make life more fulfilling (60.2%) and a through approach to staying healthy (54.0%). A high percentage of respondents (42.6%) also mentioned the need for a like-minded friend of the same or opposite sex to spend time with on special days.

By Park Su-jin, staff reporter

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