Only half of Koreans believe marriage is essential: study

Just over half of South Koreans believe getting married is essential, a recent government study showed Wednesday, and a growing proportion of people say it's alright for couples simply to live together without tying the knot.

According to Statistics Korea's annual study on Korean society, 52.5 percent of Koreans say people should get married, while 41.5 percent say it is a matter of choice and 3.3 percent say they should remain single. The percentage of those who believe people must get married dropped from 56.8 percent in 2014.

The study is based on a survey of 36,000 people aged 13 or up living in 19,000 households across the country, conducted May 15-30 this year.

Men were more likely to think of marriage as essential than women, with 58.3 percent of men being pro-marriage women's 46.8 percent.

Among unmarried respondents, 41.6 percent of men said people should get married while only 26 percent of women agreed with that.

When asked why they are not getting married, 31.3 percent of the unmarried respondents cited the lack of financial resources to do so, followed by 15.4 percent who cited the burden of giving birth and raising children. Another 12.9 percent said they cannot get married because of their unstable employment status, and 11.3 percent said they simply do not feel the need to get married.

Among singles, 38 percent of men said they cannot get married because they do not have enough money, while 25 percent of women said that. This discrepancy is likely linked to the Korean tradition in which the groom's family is expected to shoulder more of the financial burden of the wedding and housing for the couple than that of the bride.

On the flipside, 14.4 percent of women cited childbirth and child care as the reasons they are not getting married, as opposed to 11 percent of men. This difference is probably linked to the traditional Korean expectation that marrying requires women to have children and they must shoulder the responsibility for their care.

The survey also showed that an increasing percentage of Koreans are becoming open to couples living together without marrying, from 46.6 percent in 2014 to 67.4 percent in 2024. Unlike in the past, the majority of the Koreans are becoming more open to pre-marital cohabitation, or living together with no plans to marry.

A separate survey by Hankook Research on 1,000 adults released in April showed that 54 percent of respondents said it was fine for couples to live together if they have immediate plans to get married, 30 percent said it was fine for them to do so no matter their marriage plans and only 16 percent said unmarried couples living together should not be tolerated.