Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
1 in 4 singles opt to remain that way
One in four unmarried men and women chose to remain single, according to a survey by Job Korea and Albamon, Wednesday. Gettyimagesbank
By Bahk Eun-ji
By Bahk Eun-ji
One in four unmarried men and women in Korea plan to remain single, a poll showed, Wednesday.
According to the survey by local job portals Job Korea and Albamon of 1,185 adults in their 20s and 30s on their views on marriage, 83.2 percent said they felt positive about not marrying at all.
More than 93 percent of female respondents said so, compared with 69.2 percent of male respondents.
Of 1,025 singles among those surveyed, the portals asked whether they would remain unmarried, and 24.8 percent said yes, while 31.5 percent said they would get married some day and 43.7 percent said they did not know.
The reasons for not marrying varied by gender.
When multiple answers were allowed, 71.9 percent of male respondents said soaring housing prices and child-rearing costs are factors that contribute to their reluctance to marry, while 57.3 percent said they might feel pressure from in-laws.
For women, on the other hand, 62.4 percent cited pressure from the new relationship resulting from marriage, while 61.8 percent said they want to focus on themselves rather than family.