Unmarried men hesitate or refrain from marriage due to "the burden of marriage expenses," while unmarried women hesitate or refrain because "there isn't a partner that meets their expectations."
According to the results of the 2nd National Population Behavior Survey released by the Korea Population and Health Welfare Association on 14th, among 2,000 people aged 20 to 44 nationwide surveyed last October (500 unmarried and married men and women each), 41.5% of unmarried men and 55.4% of unmarried women responded that they "have no intention of marrying" or "have not yet decided."
For men, the reasons included ▲burden of marriage expenses (25.4%) ▲liking single life (19.3%) ▲prioritizing work over marriage (12.9%) ▲no partner that meets expectations (12.1%) ▲lack of income (10.4%). Women listed their reasons as ▲no partner that meets expectations (19.5%) ▲liking single life (17.0%) ▲prioritizing work over marriage (15.5%) ▲disliking patriarchal family culture and relationships (12.3%) ▲burden of marriage expenses (11.6%).
Looking at the significant response gap between men and women, the proportion of men citing "burden of marriage expenses" was 13.8 percentage points higher than that of women. The percentage of male respondents citing "lack of income" was also 7.2 percentage points higher than that of women.
Meanwhile, women chose "patriarchal culture" or "career concerns" 9.4 percentage points and 8.7 percentage points more than men, respectively. This indicates that men consider economic reasons as significant marriage barriers, while women regard cultural oppression or career hindrance as critical obstacles.
Unmarried men and women showed some differences in their perceptions of marriage conditions. Unmarried men most commonly cited that women should "actively participate in child-rearing and housework," at 97.3%. However, only 86.6% of women chose this response. Additionally, women were found to believe that "men should be able to secure the jeonse deposit" 6.5 percentage points more than men.
Regarding childbirth, 41.6% of unmarried men and 59.1% of unmarried women indicated that they have no intention or have not yet decided. The main reasons included "the economic burden of raising children" (men 34.1%·women 23.2%) and "concern that the child may not be happy" (men 23.7%·women 23.6%).
In a survey of married men and women, 94.5% of women and 90.8% of men expressed a desire to use flexible work systems during the early years of child care. As for preferred types of flexible work, men most commonly chose "remote work" (35.1%), while women preferred "variable hours" (39.2%).