Many singles avoid spending traditional holidays with family

Almost half of young singles are spending the traditional holiday of Chuseok by themselves or with friends or lovers, a survey shows.

In matchmaking company Duo's pre-holiday survey of 238 singles in their 20s and 30s, 52.9 percent said they are spending the holiday with family, 21 percent said they would be alone, 13 percent said they would be with friends and 13 percent said they would be with their lovers.

Among the respondents, 64.3 percent they would spend money on themselves during the holiday.

The percentage was higher for women (73.7 percent) than for men (47.7 percent).

Traveling was the most popular activity for men and women (34.9 percent and 34.5 percent, respectively).

For women, the holiday is also a chance to have cosmetic surgery (18.1 percent). Others (14.6 percent) said they would go for spa treatment or therapy.

For men, shopping was also popular (27.3 percent), followed by cosmetic surgery (11 percent), reading (9.9 percent) and working out (9.3 percent).

The trend is in line with the growing number of single person households _ now about 5 million, 26.5 percent of the population.

"Past surveys have shown that traditional holidays, when families gather, are a pressure for many singles, because relatives keep asking when they will get married,” a Duo official said.

"There is a tendency for singles these days to use traditional holidays as personal time for themselves rather than following the traditional holiday culture.”