Survey finds unwed people opposed to traditional notions about marriage

Majority of yet-to-marry men and women are against virtually all traditionally accepted notions about marriage, from financial arrangements to having children and divorcing, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

Seventy-nine percent of the men and 72.3 percent of the women disagreed with the conventional idea that men finance the housing and the women all the things that go in it. The survey found 60.4 percent of the men and 74.3 percent of the women believe it's better to get divorced if they cannot solve their marriage problems.

The survey was carried out by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on 1,096 men and 1,287 women aged 20-44.

Asked about the role of husbands and wives, 75.8 percent of the men and 81.8 percent of the women opposed the stereotype of women supporting their husbands from home rather than seeking their own careers. Only 20 percent of the males and 13.7 percent of the females said they agree that the husbands should be the breadwinner and the wives the family caretaker.

In the survey, 47.4 percent of the males and 60.9 percent of the females agreed that they could decide against having children after marrying.

On divorce, 50.7 percent of the men and 72.1 percent of the women said they could get divorced even if they had children.

About the only major difference between the two genders was how they view cohabitation before marriage.

While 68.1 percent of the men and 51.2 percent of the women said they could live together with their partners on condition that they would eventually marry, the answer diverged to 50.1 percent of men and 29.8 percent of women when there was no such condition attached.

But both sexes agreed it was a good idea to live together for a while after the wedding before officially filing a marriage license (44 percent of men and 54.8 percent of women).

A majority -- 59.8 percent of the men and 57.7 percent of the women -- portrayed "family" as a couple living together and their children, compared to 16.6 percent of the males and 32.8 percent of the females defining same-sex couples as also family.(Yonhap)