Jung Da-hyun is a reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues in Korea, including foreign residents, education, environment and politics. Driven by a deep interest in people’s stories, she focuses on investigative and feature reporting through direct interviews and field coverage. She received the Amnesty International Korea Media Award for her “Deepfake Crisis at Schools” series. Reach her at dahyun08@koreatimes.co.kr. Always open to hearing your stories.
Lower-income teens less likely to view marriage as necessary: report
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By Jung Da-hyun
Youth marriage views decline overall, yet vary by economic status
Adolescents' perceptions of marriage are influenced by their family's economic status, according to a report by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
The Youth Comprehensive Survey Report, released on Wednesday, underscored that teenagers from low-income households are more inclined to perceive marriage as non-essential compared to their higher-income peers.
The survey reveals that about 69 percent of teenagers from households with an average monthly income of 2 million won ($1,452) or less responded "not really" when asked if they felt they should get married last year.
This marks a notable increase in negative sentiment toward marriage among the lowest income bracket. The figure rose by 6.5 percentage points over three years, up from 62.5 percent in 2020.
In contrast, approximately 61.2 percent of teenagers from families with a monthly income of 6 million won or more indicated that they do not view marriage as being essential.
Among this higher-income group, 58.9 percent held this view in 2020, rising slightly to 61.2 percent in 2023. This modest increase highlights a less pronounced shift compared to the significant change seen among lower-income adolescents.
The report also highlights a noteworthy shift in attitudes toward marriage over recent years. In 2017, 51 percent of respondents believed marriage was necessary, a figure that has since dropped to 39.1 percent in 2023.
Given the growing social concerns regarding the low birthrate, and the increasing trend of adolescents viewing marriage as optional, the gender ministry suggests it is crucial to reassess strategies to address the declining birthrate.
The disparity in marriage perceptions among adolescents across different income levels aligns with a broader trend of "classification" in marriage and childbirth.
According to a 2022 report by the Korea Economic Research Institute, the birthrate among the lower-income class fell by 51 percent between 2010 and 2019, while the upper-income class saw a decrease of just 24.2 percent.
Furthermore, recent studies indicate that employees of small and medium-sized enterprises or non-regular workers, who typically face poorer working conditions, have a lower likelihood of marriage and childbirth compared to those employed by large companies and regular workers.
The survey also highlights disparities in breakfast consumption and subjective well-being among teenagers from different income brackets.
Last year, only 43.9 percent of teenagers in households earning less than 2 million won per month regularly had breakfast, compared to 65.7 percent of those in households with incomes of 6 million won or more.
Additionally, a happiness gap was observed between teenagers from lower and higher-income families when asked if they felt happy.
Despite these disparities, the gap between income brackets has somewhat narrowed in terms of breakfast consumption and positive sentiment indicators since the 2020 survey. For instance, the difference in breakfast consumption rates decreased from 28 percentage points in 2020 to 21.8 percentage points last year.