The more education women have, the less likely they are to marry, according to an analysis report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI) Monday.
The institute also noted that if women receive bigger paychecks they opt to not walk down the aisle, choosing to develop their careers rather than embarking on life-long matrimony.
With an increasing number of women working in the business front, the marriage rates for women with more than a college education have been steadily declining since 1997. Its survey showed only 37 percent of women under 27 tied the knot in 2005, down from 83 percent 10 years ago.
``Besides improved working conditions and benefits for women, rising private education and cost of living are making women shun marriages,'' it said.
The KDI noted that when women invest more time in academic studies, their probability of getting married drops by 5 to 8 percent. This goes the same for wages. When women see their earnings grow, the marriage probability shrinks by as much as 53 percent.
The institute forecast that such a trend is likely to continue, leading to an increasing drop in the country's birth rate.
Although the number of babies born last year increased to 497,000, up from 452,000 a year earlier, the birth rate still remains low compared with other economies of the OECD, according to the National Statistical Office.
In 2006, women in the United States had an average of 2.1 babies, followed by 2 in France; 1.8 in Britain; 1.3 in Japan. Korea had 1.1.
The birth rate increased slightly last year as many couples got married in 2006 to give birth in 2007, the year of the golden pig, which is believed to bring great fortune to newborns.
phk@koreatimes.co.kr