Do You Have to Get Married?...Less Than Half of Women in Their 20s-40s in Gyeonggi Province Say Yes

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] A survey shows that approximately half of Gyeonggi Province residents believe marriage is not necessary.

Positive perceptions toward 'marriage' and 'children' show a declining trend year after year, and economic burdens such as high housing prices and private education costs are found to be the largest cause of non-marriage and low birth rates.

Gyeonggi Province conducted a resident perception survey on 'marriage, children, and low birth rate' targeting 2,000 residents from October 16-18 last month and announced the results on the 11th.

First, when asked 'should one get married,' only 52% answered 'yes.' This is lower than the 63% in a 2017 survey and 54% in 2019.

Looking at respondents in their 20s-40s, 'yes' responses to 'should one get married' stood at 47%, falling short of half.

In particular, responses from women in their 20s-40s were even lower at 32%, 40%, and 40% respectively.

When asked 'should one have children,' 65% answered 'yes,' showing a decrease in affirmative responses compared to 2017 (74%) and 2019 (69%).

Among those in their 20s-40s, 58% answered 'yes,' and responses from women in their 20s-40s were also lower at 42%, 51%, and 59% respectively.

Regarding reasons for the increase in non-marriage, ▲excessive housing cost burden including deposit and monthly rent (31%) was cited as the top reason.

This represents a 6 percentage point increase from last year (25%), and the province analyzes this reflects the recent surge in real estate prices.

Following this were ▲burden of childbirth and childcare (25%) and ▲emphasis on personal life and leisure (18%).

Meanwhile, 86% of Gyeonggi residents viewed the low birth rate problem in society as 'serious.'

As causes of low birth rate, ▲economic burden including childcare and private education costs (33%) was ranked first.

Next were ▲excessive housing costs such as property prices (18%) and ▲emphasis on personal life (13%).

It is interpreted that economic factors such as housing prices and childcare costs have significant impact on residents' decisions regarding childbirth and childcare.

Gender perception gaps were also notable. Men ranked ▲excessive housing costs (24%) twice as high as women (12%), while women ranked ▲emphasis on personal life (16%) higher than men (10%).

In particular, ▲concentration of childcare burden on women was four times higher among women (12%) compared to men (3%).

The most urgent low birth rate measure was identified as ▲support for establishing stable foundation including employment security and housing support (36%), followed by ▲economic support such as child allowances, medical costs, and education expenses (18%), ▲expansion of public childcare facilities and kindergartens, expansion of childcare services (16%), and ▲guarantee of time to care for children through reduced work hours and parental leave (15%).

Hong Ji-seon, director of Gyeonggi Province's Urban Housing Office, said, "Young people are expressing concerns about 'housing stability issues,' and it appears that Gyeonggi Province's basic housing project could be a meaningful solution to the low birth rate problem."

Ryu In-kwon, Gyeonggi Province's policy planning officer, said, "Gyeonggi Province is pursuing projects including creating a gender-equal childcare environment and work-life balance platforms."

The survey was commissioned by Gyeonggi Province to Realmeter and conducted from October 16-18 targeting 2,000 residents using an automated response survey method, with a confidence level of 95% and a sample error of ±2.2 percentage points.