Seoul sees rise in number of couples living apart

One in 10 married couples in Seoul City do not live together due mainly to work and the education of their children, according to Seoul’s demographic data from the past 15 years to 2010 unveiled on Thursday.

The number of married couples who live separately in the metropolitan city jumped 61 percent to 210,000 households from 1995 to 2010.

Such couples accounted for 9.5 percent of all households in 2010, up from 5.8 percent in 1995.

Meanwhile, married couple-households fell as a proportion of the total from 77 percent to 63 percent during the same period.

This was due to the avoidance of marriage among the young generation and the increasing number of divorces among middle-aged couples, the city said.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)