42% of single-person households eat two meals alone

By Kim Bo-eun

Kwon Se-na, a 29-year-old language instructor living by herself in Seoul, enjoys eating alone at home.

“It’s comfortable because I don’t need to be mindful of other people _ I like to eat while watching TV,” she said, noting that she has breakfast and dinner alone quite often.

To keep herself company, Kwon keeps fish in a bowl and raises six plants.

“It feels good to have something to take care of,” she said.

When she doesn’t work, Kwon spends time at coffee shops, reading and relaxing alone.

An increasing number of people are opting to live alone, instead of getting married and having children. According to Statistics Korea, single-person households accounted for 27.1 percent of total households in 2015, up from 15.5 percent in 2000.

As people live by themselves, it has also become increasingly natural to eat alone, which is a shift from the communal dining culture here.

Forty-two percent of those living alone eat two meals a day by themselves on weekdays, according to a report from KB Financial Group, based on a survey conducted on 1,500 households, released Thursday.

According to the report, on the weekends, 49.2 percent of single people had two meals alone, while 17.8 percent said they ate three meals by themselves.

They either cooked at home, bought ready-made meals, or ordered in.

More than half of those living alone were comfortable eating, shopping and working out alone.

The respondents said they enjoy their freedom and ease of making decisions, but felt lonely. For companionship, 11.9 percent were found to raise pets.

The report showed single-people households are relatively young, with 52.8 percent aged below 40. Seven out of 10 were satisfied living alone, but women were happier with their lifestyle than men.

Women in their early 30s showed the highest satisfaction levels, while in the case of men, the older they were, the less they were happy with their lifestyle.

Among the respondents, 49.7 percent said they would be content to continue living alone, but the figure was higher for women (63.1 percent) than men (39.3 percent).