Men shoulder more wedding cost than women: survey

Korean men were found to shoulder more wedding costs than women at least by 20 million won ($17,000), a survey showed Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, over half of grooms’ parents spent more than 80 million won on average while 70 percent of brides’ parents spent less than 60 million won.

About 10 percent of the couples said they spent over 200 million won on their wedding.

The survey was conducted on 1,200 grooms and brides who married in the last three years and their parents between the ages 55 and 69. Wedding costs for the survey were said to include the ceremony as well as setting up the couple’s home.

Due to the large sums of money needed for the wedding, many couples said they depended on their parents for support.

Nearly half of the couples replied that over 60 percent of the wedding costs were shouldered by their parents.

While more than half of the parents felt burdened by the wedding costs, about 70 percent of parents felt obligated to support their children. Nearly 85 percent also replied that it is better to give support if they could afford it.

The majority of the children took their parents’ help for granted, with 64 percent saying that it is better to receive the support if parents are willing to do so.

Only about 10 percent of the couples said they independently prepared for their wedding.

Most, or 93 percent of the parents, said they felt uncomfortable discussing their financial difficulties with their spouses.

About 85 percent of the parents also said that they did not receive any regular financial support from their children despite having provided assistance to them. Of those that did, the average monthly allowance was 220,000 won.

Most parents, also 85 percent, did not expect any financial help from their children.

Among those seeking the help, mothers of the grooms showed the highest expectation for support at 23.5 percent.

By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)