hankyoreh

 (Hankyoreh archives)

In Seoul, single-person households account for 33.9% of all households. In other words, about one in three households are people living alone.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government published data on Nov. 25 analyzing the characteristics of single-person households in the city. According to the figures, the number of such households increased 16-fold between 1980 and 2019, from 82,000 to 1.3 million.

As Korean urbanization brought young people flocking to the cities, people in their 20s and 30s accounted for about 70% of single-person households in Seoul prior to 1994. But because of population aging, more than half of single-person households have been in their 40s or above since 2015.

Among people in their 40s, researchers found, those who live alone face more economic difficulties than those who live with other people. Looking at the percentage of people in their 20s and 30s with a permanent job (which tends to pay better than temporary jobs or day labor), there was little difference between single-person and multi-person households.

But in the 40-44 age group, the percentage of single-person households with a permanent job (70.5%) was 12.4 points lower than the percentage of multi-person households (82.9%). A similar gap was seen in the 45-49 age group, where 68.0% of single person households had a permanent job, compared to 77.4% of multi-person households.

Despite these economic conditions, 62.8% of people in single-person households said they wanted to continue living by themselves. That was the finding of an online panel questionnaire carried out by the city of Seoul on 500 people living alone (between the ages of 18 and 65) on Oct. 16-21.

When asked why they wanted to live alone, 73.1% said they preferred to be independent without any interference, 31.1% said they wanted to invest in and spend money on themselves, and 30.3% said they wanted to use their time more efficiently.

The survey also asked whether Seoul was suitable for living alone. Among respondents, 40.9% said it was suitable, 29.1% said it was somewhat suitable, and 30.1% said it was unsuitable.

Significantly, 35.9% of single-person households said they’ve experienced prejudice from people who think that those who live alone have various problems that prevent them from adapting to society.

In October 2019, Seoul published a comprehensive support plan for single-person households. The plan aims to help such people form social connections, prevent their social isolation, and propagate more respectful attitudes toward them in society.

By Kim Yang-jin, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]