Increasingly, women the queens of their castles

The ratio of women-led households in Korea will likely increase over the next few decades as many women are delaying marriage and the country keeps aging at a faster rate, a report showed yesterday.
According to Statistics Korea, the number of households led by female breadwinners stood at 4.81 million as of April of this year, or 26.8 percent of the total 17.95 million households.
This is up from 25.7 percent in 2010 and 18.5 percent in 2000, the report showed.

The agency forecast that the ratio of women-led households will likely increase to 30.8 percent in 2020 and 34 percent in 2030.

The predicted rise is attributable to a growing trend that is seeing more women delay getting married to participate in economic activities. Putting off tying the knot leaves more women to live alone.

“The forecast is based on a combination of many factors, including delayed weddings and Korea’s aging population,” an employee at the agency said.

The report showed that women were getting married for the first time at an average of 29.1 as of last year, up from 26.5 tallied in 2000. The average age for men was 31.9.

Women aged 60 or older also made up the largest segment of the female population, the report showed. Of the country’s female population of 24.97 million, the age group accounted for 18.7 percent, followed by 16.8 percent and 15.7 percent for those in their 40s and 30s, respectively.

Korea’s total population has recently exceeded 50 million, with women accounting for 49.9 percent, according to the report.

Yonhap