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An apartment complex viewed from Seoul’s Jamsil Hangang Park. (Yonhap News)

Around half of Gyeonggi Province residents see marriage as optional, with only around three out of 10 female residents in their 20s expressing positive views toward marriage, survey results show.

On Oct. 16-18, Gyeonggi Province conducted a survey in which 2,000 residents were asked about their perceptions on marriage, children, and South Korea’s low birth rate. The results showed 52% of respondents agreeing when asked whether they saw marriage as “necessary.”

The proportion of respondents agreeing that marriage is necessary previously slipped from 63% in an April 2017 survey to 54% in a survey from October 2019, with a total decline of 11 percentage points in three years.

Among respondents in the 20-49 age range, less than half (47%) agreed that marriage is necessary. Among female respondents in their 20s, 30s and 40s, the rates were even lower at 32%, 40% and 40%, respectively.

Sixty-five percent of respondents agreed that couples should have children after marriage. The proportion of respondents agreeing that couples should have children has shown a decreasing trend, with respective percentages of 74% and 69% in the April 2017 and October 2019 surveys. Among respondents aged 20 to 49, 58% said that couples should have children; once again, the rates were lower among female respondents in their 20s, 30s and 40s at 42%, 51% and 59%, respectively.

The most commonly cited reason for the increased trend of not marrying was the excessive burden of residential costs such as housing prices, key money deposits, and rent (31%), followed by burdens associated with childbirth and child-raising (25%) and an emphasis on personal fulfillment and leisure (18%).

Eighty-six percent of respondents agreed that South Korea’s low birth rate is a “serious” issue. The most commonly named reason for the low birth rate was the economic burden of child-raising and private education costs (33%), followed by excessive resident costs (18%) and an emphasis on personal lives (13%). Male respondents cited excessive residential costs twice as often as female ones (24% to 12%), while female respondents cited an emphasis on personal lives more often than male ones by a margin of 16% to 10%.

The automated response survey was conducted by the polling organization Real Meter at the request of Gyeonggi Province. The margin of error was ±2.2 percentage points with a 95% confidence level.

By Hong Yong-duk, South Gyeonggi correspondent

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