Childless Families Becoming More Common in Korea

 

The 2015 Korean Societal Trends Report from Statistics Korea

It appears that the proportion of couples in their late 30s among the number of childless homes has been quadrupled in the last 35 years.

On the 10th of December, the Statistics Research Institute, part of Statistics Korea, presented the 2015 Korean Societal Trends Report and according to this report, the number of childless homes in 1975 was 1.6% and rose to 2.1% in 2010.

During that period, the ratio of childless homes where the wife is between 35 and 39 years old increased from 1.1% to 4.1%, showing a dramatic increase.

Childless homes are defined as homes without a child where the wife is between 35 and 64 years old.

The rate of childless homes where the wife is between 35 and 44 continues to increase, along with the trend of marry at a later age.

As the time spent as a married couple gets shorter, the likeliness of not have children increases.

[The report showed that] in 2010, 36.7% of men in their thirties were unmarried, an increase from 12.4% in 1995. The percentage of unmarried women in their thirties rose from 4.6% to 19.9% in the same period.

Wives from childless homes show a tendency to have a higher education level and higher positions in their companies than the wives of homes with children.

While women with a higher education level are seeking more work experience and self-realization, they are delaying marriage.

In the 1975 Housing and Population census, the average education level of the wife from a childless home was below elementary school, while in 2010 the average was a high school education.

The percentage of wives from childless homes focusing on their career was 0.9% in 1975 and increased to 17.0% by 2010.

The number of childless couples with high educational backgrounds or who are focusing on their careers but wish to raise children was rather high.

Professor Kye Bong-oh from Kukmin University and Professor Kim Du-seop from Hanyang University mentioned that, “If the number of childless homes keep increasing, we really have to consider that the situation of low fertility will intensify, and as such, future policies aimed at increasing the fertility rate will have to be targeted to well-educated and high-positioned women.”