More women in late 20s avoid marriage

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Staff reporter

A growing number of women in their late 20s are remaining single as marriage plunges down their value ladders.

According to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA), the rate of unmarried women aged between 25 and 29 — the bracket generally known here as “optimum marriage age” — jumped to 59.1 percent in 2005 from 11.8 percent in 1975.

For many young singles, marriage is a sort of luxury — they have lots of other things to do. Before tying the knot with their ideal partners, they want to achieve career goals, receive more education and consider themselves still too young to get married. Economic reasons, such as a small income and lacking funds for wedding expenses, were ranked second.

Byun Yong-chan of the institute said this trend is caused by an expanded educational and job-seeking period. “Late marriages lead to a delay in the age for childbirth and a low birthrate,” he said.

At the same time, the “optimum” marriage age no longer influences the younger generation as they think the definition itself is outdated in this 21st century.

“I am 28 and none of my close friends have married yet. I can’t believe that I am in the middle of the ‘optimum’ age for marriage,” said an office worker. “Though I have a boyfriend, I’m not thinking of marrying him for now. My mom also told me to enjoy my life and do what I want to do before marriage.”

As Kim’s case shows, the average age of marriage has risen to 28.4 years old in 2008 from 23.2 in 1981.

The unmarried rate rose for all age groups — in 1975, only 2.1 percent of women in their early 30s were not married, but 19 percent lived a single life in 2005.

A 2009 survey on marriage and childbirth by the Ministry of Health and Welfare also showed that only 20.3 percent of single males and females agreed with the idea that “marriage is a must,” while 14.1 percent of women who were already married thought marriage was a necessity.

The survey was conducted on 3,314 unmarried people and 3,585 married women.

20대 후반 여성 결혼기피 심해

결혼은 가치를 낮추는 일이라는 인식이 만연한 가운데 20대 후반 여성들의 혼인율이 갈수록 감소하고 있다. 한국보건사회연구소에 따르면 결혼적령기라고 일컬어지는 25세에서 29세의 미혼여성의 비율은 2005년 59.1%로 1975년의 11.8%에 비해 대폭 증가했다.

많은 젊은 미혼여성들에게 결혼은 일종의 사치로 여겨진다. 이들은 이상형과 결혼하는 것보다는 교육이나 직업에 더 투자하고 싶어하며, 아직 결혼하기에는 젊은 나이라고 생각한다. 적은 수입이나 결혼비용부담 등 경제적 이유도 크다.

변용찬 연구원은 늘어난 교육기간과 취업기간이 반영된 결과라고 말했다. 변 연구원은 “만결은 결국 낮은 출산율로 이어진다”고 설명했다. 동시에 “결혼적령기”는 더 이상 젊은층에게 의미를 잃은 것으로 보인다.

보건복지부의 2009년 설문에 따르면 20.3%의 미혼남녀와 14.1%의 기혼여성만이 결혼은 필수라고 생각하고 있는 것으로 알려졌다. 이 설문은 3,314명의 미혼남녀와 3,585명의 기혼여성이 참여했다.