More than 3 million women in S. Korea lived alone in 2019
- 4 years ago
`혼자가 좋아요`…결혼은 줄고 결혼 시기도 늦춰져
A new comprehensive government report sheds light on lifestyle and demographic trends among South Korean women, a greater number of whom than ever before are living alone.
More women are choosing to work rather than get married and start a family.
For those who do have families and want to work at the same time, childcare needs mean they aren't able to work as much.
Eum Ji-young has the details.
In South Korea, the number of women living alone last year rose by about 40 percent compared to ten years ago... to a total of three-million 94-thousand.
That's according to a report on the lives of women in South Korea, released jointly on Wednesday by Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
According to the report, the number of first marriages last year was 184-thousand, a figure that's also been decreasing for 10 consecutive years. The average age at which a woman gets married for the first time was 30-point-6.
Men got married on average three years later.
"The number of first marriages has been decreasing because the perception that married life is good... is changing,... and more women have been participating in the economy."
The number of births last year came to 303-thousand,... down 32 percent since 2009. Baby girls accounted for 49 percent of them.
In the first half of this year, the number of women working fewer hours due to childcare increased dramatically due to COVID-19.
At around six-thousand nine-hundred, it was far higher than the figure for men.
On the bright side, life expectancy continues to rise.
Life expectancy for girls born in 2018 was almost 86 years, an increase of 1.5 years since 2012. There was a gap of about 6 years between men and women.
However, the average age people consider themselves healthy has been falling for both genders.
More time spent in the hospital in their later years has apparently reduced their perceived quality of life.
The report also said that in the National Assembly women were 19 percent of the representatives... and accounted for one third of government ministers.
Eum Ji-young Arirang News.
A new comprehensive government report sheds light on lifestyle and demographic trends among South Korean women, a greater number of whom than ever before are living alone.
More women are choosing to work rather than get married and start a family.
For those who do have families and want to work at the same time, childcare needs mean they aren't able to work as much.
Eum Ji-young has the details.
In South Korea, the number of women living alone last year rose by about 40 percent compared to ten years ago... to a total of three-million 94-thousand.
That's according to a report on the lives of women in South Korea, released jointly on Wednesday by Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
According to the report, the number of first marriages last year was 184-thousand, a figure that's also been decreasing for 10 consecutive years. The average age at which a woman gets married for the first time was 30-point-6.
Men got married on average three years later.
"The number of first marriages has been decreasing because the perception that married life is good... is changing,... and more women have been participating in the economy."
The number of births last year came to 303-thousand,... down 32 percent since 2009. Baby girls accounted for 49 percent of them.
In the first half of this year, the number of women working fewer hours due to childcare increased dramatically due to COVID-19.
At around six-thousand nine-hundred, it was far higher than the figure for men.
On the bright side, life expectancy continues to rise.
Life expectancy for girls born in 2018 was almost 86 years, an increase of 1.5 years since 2012. There was a gap of about 6 years between men and women.
However, the average age people consider themselves healthy has been falling for both genders.
More time spent in the hospital in their later years has apparently reduced their perceived quality of life.
The report also said that in the National Assembly women were 19 percent of the representatives... and accounted for one third of government ministers.
Eum Ji-young Arirang News.