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Wedding dresses hang in a boutique in Seoul’s Ahyeon neighborhood in this undated photo. (Yonhap)

South Korea has the lowest number of so-called “equal income marriages” in which a man and woman with comparable income levels are married, according to a recently published study on major economies. These findings are somewhat different from the socially accepted idea that men and women belonging to similar socio-economic classes, such as professionals or those working at major corporations, will marry people in similar circles.

According to a new report published on Thursday by the Bank of Korea titled "The Effects of Earnings Homogamy and Household Structure on Household Income Inequality: Cross-country Comparisons,” the tendency for men and women with similar incomes to marry in Korea was lower than in other major countries.

When comparing an index of similar income marriages (calculated by dividing the earned income of married couples into 10 quintiles), South Korea’s index figure stood at 1.16 times, the lowest among 34 major economies (33 OECD countries and Taiwan).

Japan’s figures were 1.32 times, the US 1.50 times, the UK 1.71 times, and France 1.19 times. In fact, the average index of same-income marriages in the 33 countries analyzed, excluding South Korea, came out to 1.60.

The closer the index figure is to 1, the more often men and women marry across income levels to form a household. As such, the higher the number of men and women with similar incomes getting married to each other in a country, the greater the figure.

Thursday’s report is based on empirical analysis of household survey data collected from 2005 through 2019.

While the report did note that there are indeed marriages in Korea between men and women of similar income levels, marriages among those with different incomes, such as a high-income man and unemployed or low-income woman or low-income man and a woman with a median or high income level, were observed relatively more often in South Korea compared to the other countries studied.

The conventional wisdom in South Korea is that those belonging to higher income groups, such as professionals, civil servants, or those working at large companies, tend to find marriage partners with similar levels of income. However, this report shows that there are other aspects of marriage that have yet to be more widely understood.

According to the report, in other major countries, men with higher incomes were less likely to marry lower-income women, but in South Korea, this phenomenon occurred slightly more frequently. Moreover, marriages between lower-income men and middle-income women also occur more frequently in South Korea than in other major countries.

The report also explained how such marriage tendencies in South Korea are influencing the alleviation of income inequality.

“High-income and low-income individuals are meeting to form middle-income households,” the report stated, adding that “as a result, income inequality is easing at the household level compared to income inequality at the individual level.”

According to the research, the proportion of single-person households and single-parent households in South Korea, which is relatively lower compared to other major countries, is also having a positive impact when it comes to alleviating inequality in the country.

As of 2019, the proportion of single-person households and single-parent households in South Korea was 14.7% and 4.0%, respectively, which is lower than the average of the other major countries (22.6% and 7.4%, respectively).

Nevertheless, the report did raise the possibility that the trend of marriages among individuals with similar income levels and household structures could change in a way that could unfavorably impact income inequality in the future.

“Efforts are needed to reduce labor market inequality as well as active government redistribution policies to alleviate household income inequality,” the report emphasized.

By Cho Kye-wan, senior staff writer

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