2 In 5 To Live Alone By 2050: Why South Koreans Don't Wish To Marry?

People across the globe are making choices for themselves going beyond social norms that have dictated a certain way of living for decades now; the notion of getting married is a major one. However, things are changing and so are timelines and, in the case of South Korea, a lot more. According to recent research carried out in the country, most Koreans are making a choice not to get married and instead live alone, and the factual figures denote that in 2021 alone, people living by themselves comprised about 7.2 million.

As more South Korean nationals are choosing singlehood, it's predicted that a huge percentage of Koreans that are expected to live alone in 2050 will exceed by more than quadruple from the year 2000.

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South Koreans refuse to get married

According to the country's statistics agency, many citizens opting to remain single is leading to a huge shift in how households and their functioning is changing. The research reveals that the rise in single-person households was drastic in 2021, making up almost 7.2 million ( one-third of the households in South Korea) compared to a multiple-person house unit.

The statistics disclose that the year 2000's 15.5 per cent ratio is all set to increase to 40 per cent by 2050 as the idea of how families should be is changing. The study says that Koreans are changing their old notions of consideration and adapting to the newer realities in a country that is developing rapidly. This change in people's decisions is also feeding into the fact that the country is slowly moving towards a lower fertility rate as people are navigating whether or not they want children at all.

The research revealed that while half of the singles cited reasons of lack of jobs security and not having enough financial independence as reasons to not get hitched, the other half made such a choice simply because they felt the pressure to get married was baseless and they wanted to live on their own, on their terms.

The growing space for single people in society

Looking at the world at large, it's not just one country adhering to newer perspectives when it comes to marriages and families. People have long been pushing back the traditional notions of family units and reshaping society at large. For South Korea, the boom is huge but not surprising. In an interview with Guardian a couple of years back, a South Korean woman who chose to remain single shared that while her decision did not go down well with a lot of people around her, they eventually made peace when they saw her living happily. "I want people to know that I am living a fulfilling life despite being single," she said.

HaYoung Ryu, a South Korean national who resides in Australia, told SheThePeople that her family and friends back in Seoul are navigating their lives keeping in mind that marriage is not the end game. "Irrespective of the country we were born in, we were instilled with the idea that we were 'supposed' to get married no matter what. That is changing and I think Koreans are becoming more accepting of that as philosophies especially post-pandemic have changed for the better."