2024-05-12 14:32:03
It was found that 4 out of 10 dual-income couples aged 25 to 39 in Korea are ‘DINKs’ who do not have children. In particular, the proportion of childless couples was high in Seoul, and research institutes believe that high housing prices played a role.
According to the report ‘Changes in the characteristics of childless couples over the past 10 years’ published by the Korea Labor Institute on the 12th, as of 2022, 27.1% of young married households where the head of the household (the person responsible for the family’s livelihood) is between 25 and 39 years old had no children. Compared to 2013 (22.2%), the proportion of childless people increased by 4.9 percentage points in 9 years.
For couples with dual incomes, the childlessness rate was higher. The proportion of young dual-income couples without children increased by 15.3% from 21.0% in 2013 to 36.3% in 2022. On the other hand, in the case of single-income earners, the proportion of childless people only slightly increased from 12.3% to 13.5% over the same period, but there was no significant change. The number of dual-income couples who do not have children has increased significantly, and the researcher said, “We can guess that many people are giving up economic activities because it is difficult to combine work, childbirth, and childcare.”
The researcher also presented an analysis that found that housing prices had a significant impact on childbirth. The proportion of couples with children who owned their own home was the majority at 52%, but only 34.6% of couples without children, a difference of 17.4 percentage points. The researcher explained, “Residential instability appears to be one of the factors that hinders childbirth among childless couples.”
In particular, in Seoul, where housing prices are the most expensive in the country, the proportion of childless couples among all couples was 45.2%, more than twice that of Gangwon (21.5%) and Gyeonggi (20.5%). The researcher said, “Except for Seoul, the proportion of childless couples in all regions is around 20%,” adding, “It is presumed that the proportion of childless couples is related to the high housing prices in Seoul.” He also pointed out that it is necessary to expand housing support to encourage childless couples to have children.
The number of couples with children who have only one child is increasing. Among married couples with children, the proportion of three-person households consisting of a husband and wife and one child increased from 42.4% in 2013 to 56.3% in 2022. On the other hand, the proportion of households of four or more people with two or more children decreased from 57.6% to 43.7% during the same period.
Reporter Lee Eun-taek [email protected]
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2024-05-12 14:32:03