Eight in 10 unmarried young South Koreans say they intend to marry, and three in four want children, according to a survey. Many said stable jobs and housing must come first, however.
Duo, a matchmaking company, said on the 13th that 81.4% of unmarried young Koreans intend to marry, based on its analysis of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's survey on attitudes among young people in Korea and Japan. The survey was conducted in June and July among people aged 20 to 39 living in the two countries, with 2,000 respondents in each for a total of 4,000.
Among the detailed responses, 37.1% said they want to marry if they meet the right person, the largest share. Another 35.7% said they want to marry someday if possible, and 8.6% said they want to marry right away. By contrast, 18.6% said they never intend to marry.
The share who want children reached 76.8%. Two children was the most common ideal number at 52.6%, followed by one child at 17.0% and three or more at 7.3%.
Economic stability and housing emerged as key conditions for deciding to marry. Asked what they need before marrying, 51.8% cited stable employment and income for themselves and their spouse, the largest share, followed by securing a home for the newlyweds at 47.1%.
On conditions for having and raising children, easing the financial burden drew the highest response rate at 56.0%. Expanding opportunities to meet a partner was cited by 21.8%.
Korean respondents were more inclined to marry than their Japanese counterparts. Among unmarried young Japanese, 57.6% said they intend to marry, 23.8 percentage points lower than in Korea. The share who want children was 50.5% in Japan, 26.3 percentage points below the Korean figure.
"Rather than viewing marriage and childbirth negatively, young people tend to weigh practical conditions such as a stable foundation for living and finding a suitable partner," a Duo official said.
Marriages have continued to rise, according to Statistics Korea. There were 22,282 marriages in July, up 9.3%, or 1,890, from a year earlier. That was the highest for the month in 11 years, since 23,571 marriages in July 2015. Marriages totaled 146,656 in the January-July period, up 6.1%, or 8,403, from the same period last year. Marriages have increased from a year earlier for 28 consecutive months since April 2024.