Younger Koreans more willing to have children, survey says

Young Koreans are more open to having children than they were just several years ago, according to the latest government survey. Officials see the recent results as a hopeful indicator of a reversal in the country’s chronically low birthrate

Children enjoy Parent's Day with their parents at a kindergarten in Gwangju in last May. [YONHAP]

Young Koreans are more open to having children than they were just several years ago, according to the latest government survey.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family revealed the results of its 2023 survey on Korean perceptions toward family and household management on Wednesday.

The survey was conducted among 12,000 households nationwide over June and July last year.

Officials see the recent results as a hopeful indicator of a reversal in the country’s chronically low birthrate, which sank to 0.72 last year. The number indicates the average number of childbirths a Korean woman has during her childbearing years .

A total of 27.6 percent of respondents between 30 and 40 answered that they were willing to have children, a 9.4 percent increase compared to the 2020 survey.

Some 15.7 percent of younger respondents under 30 said they planned to have children, a 6.8 percentage point increase compared to the 2020 results.

The percentage of younger Koreans reluctant to have children also decreased.

Some 44.4 percent of participants in their 30s answered that they did not wish to have children, a 10.3 percentage point drop compared to the previous survey in 2020.

Only 19 percent of respondents under 30 said they wanted to remain childless. In the previous survey, nearly one-third of respondents under 30 said they didn't want children.

The results also show that people under 30 tend to defer choosing to have children until they are older — usually in their 30s or 40s.

More than 65 percent of participants under 30 said they had not considered children, but this percentage shrank to 27.9 percent in the 30-to-40 age bracket.

The recent survey also demonstrated how Koreans' perceptions toward different living arrangements have changed over time.

Contemporary Koreans are more open-minded to unmarried couples living together. Only a quarter of the 2020 respondents accepted such a living arrangement, but the percentage rose to 39.1 percent in the latest survey.

Koreans are nowadays opting to set clearer rules regarding actual marriages. In the latest survey, nearly 30 percent of participants agreed that nuptial contracts are necessary. In 2020, only 16.3 percent supported putting contractual clauses in their marriages.

At the same time, young Korean couples reportedly enjoy more egalitarian marriages than before. According to the report, younger husbands share household chores rather than leave them to their wives.

Some 56.4 percent of married couples in their 20s answered that they split chores equally, as did 44.1 percent of couples in their 30s.

Of all respondents, 47.4 percent were O.K. with single-person households, a 13.4 percent increase since 2020.

A public official, right, consults with a middle-aged man living alone in Gangseo District, western Seoul in 2021. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

The percentage of single-person households outweighed all other household types in 2023.

Single-person households accounted for 33.6 percent of Korean households. Two-person households were runner-up with 29 percent.

The percentage of single-person households has doubled over the past 13 years. The rate was 15.8 percent in 2010 but surpassed 30 percent by 2020.

In the previous survey, two-person households were the most common at 31.1 percent, closely followed by single-person households at 31 percent.

Men who lived alone found having balanced meals to be the most significant problem, while women said managing emergencies alone was the most burdensome.

Social support demands for single-person households also varied by age group. Younger respondents called for “housing support," and those over 70 said “senior care services” were most urgent.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]