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Many young Korean men and women no longer take marriage for granted. They opt to live together under the same roof without tying the knot for a variety of reasons.
Some parts of society considered cohabitation as scandalous and tantamount to living in sin, however, it is true that Korea is turning more generous toward diverse family structures
So why are these couples going against the social norm of settling into married life?
Some are trying each other out for a while and want to make sure that their relationships are sexually and socially compatible before getting married. Others cite soaring marriage and housing costs as key reasons behind their cohabitation.
It is said that the number of unmarried couples is increasing steadily, although reliable statistics are as yet unavailable. And the trend is likely to continue given the difficulty of getting married amid soaring costs and the increasing openness of society toward cohabitation.
It is no secret that many young collegians are living together to share rental costs in residential areas near college campuses.
However, despite the growing number of cohabiting couples, they face a lot of obstacles including the absence of legal systems to protect their individual rights. There is a pressing need to establish legal grounds to protect the rights of the growing number of cohabiting couples.
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