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Occurrence of Pregnancy after 30 Increases

Published: 04 Jan. 2003, 18:44

"She graduates from high school, gets married at 27, earns ￦930,000 a month and suffers from arthritis." This is what the municipality of Seoul has revealed about the average woman living in Seoul in its "White Paper on Women in Seoul", produced from data provided by the National Statistical Office.
For Miss Seoul, the average age of marriage is 27.2 - over a year later than for women in the country (26.1). Compared to 1990, the portion of pregnancies carried between the ages of 30 and 34 has increased from 18 to 26 percent.
Among women living in Seoul, 47 percent are currently employed, and in fact of the total population of working women nationwide 22 percent reside in Seoul. Over half (53 percent) of single women work (topping the 49 percent of single males who work), but the number decreases sharpely upon marriage.
The average wage earned by Seoul women, 930,000 won, is only 66 percent of that earned by men which stands at 1,420,000 won.
About half (51 percent) of women in Seoul drink alcohol, through this number rises to 73 percent for women in their 20s, and records 91 percent for 20-something males.
Only 4.2 percent of women in Seoul smoke, rising to 5.7 percent for those in their 20s and 6.7 percent for those in their 60s.
Religious faith is affirmed by 57.9 percent of Seoul women, a figure 3.7 percent higher than in the countryside. About half of women (45 percent) nationwide consider themselves Buddhists and a similar portion (48 percent) living in Seoul are Protestants. By religion, Protestantism accounts for 48.4 percent of the national population, Buddhism 33.4 percent, and Catholicism 16.5 percent.
According to population research in late 1999, the proportion of females in their teens and 30s is lower than those in other age groups nationwide. However, the portion of those in their 20s in Seoul - 19.5 percent of the total female population - marks 2 percent higher than the national average. The gender imbalance is most prevalent between the ages of five and nine (100 girls versus 114 boys). The gap is widening and poses a serious problem.

by Jang Se-jung