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By Yoon Ja-young
Households where both husband and wife work, earn around 40 percent more than households where only one of them works, statistics showed Monday. The latter are also burdened with bigger housing expenses as they are less likely to own their homes.
According to Statistics Korea, the country's double income households made 5.4 million won a month on average last year. The households that don't have two incomes, meanwhile, only made 3.7 million won per month. Included in this group are single income couples as well as those where the father and child or the mother and child work. Six out of 10 households with two members or more were single income households last year.
As they had less income, single income households spent less. Their monthly spending averaged 2.3 million won last year, which is much less than double income households' spending of 3 million won a month. Double income households typically spent much more on education, spending 371,730 won a month, while single income households spent only 229,441 won.
However, there was little difference in spending for daily necessities, such as food, residence, water, electricity and heating.
One income households are more burdened with housing expenses than two income households. They spent 79,471 won per day, on average, which is more than the 65,625 won per day spent by double income households. As housing expenses in the statistics means monthly rent, it may reflect that single income households are less likely to own their own homes and must pay monthly rent instead.
Due to rising housing prices, two incomes for younger couples are increasingly becoming the norm. According to a survey of 1,000 singles by Duo, a matchmaking company, 74.6 percent said they want to be in a marriage in which both husband and wife are working.
They want to have two children on average, but say that the burden imposed on them by their economic circumstances is a major factor in the low birth rate of the country.
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