First-time brides in their 30s outnumber those in their 20s

[PIXABAY]

For the first time since Korea started compiling the data, more first-time brides are in their 30s than in their 20s.

In 2021, 157,000 women were married for the first time, according to Statistics Korea. Of those, 49.1 percent were in their 30s and 35.5 percent were in their 20s.

The data were first compiled in 1990.

In the 1990s, the number of women marrying for the first time in their 20s was 18 times the number marrying for the first time in their 30s. That dropped to eightfold in 2000 and double in 2010 and finally to a full reversal in 2021.

For men, more were first married in their 30s rather than their 20s in 2005. In the 1990s, four times the number of men were married for the first time in their 20s than in their 30s.

In 2021, twice as many men were married for the first time in their 30s than in their 20s.

Based on 2021 data, the average age for first marriages was 31.1 for women and 33.4 for men. In 1991, the average age for women was 24.8 and for men 27.9. It's taking longer for people to become financially stable enough to marry.

Mothers gave birth to their firstborns at 32.6 years of age on average in 2021, a 0.3 year increase from the previous year, a 4.6 year increase in 20 years and a 2.3 year increase in ten years. The trend leads to low birth rates as late first childbirth reduces the chances of having a second and third child due to higher risks.

“In the past, marriage was considered as a must, but now it is more of something to choose to do when you are ready’” said Min Se-jin, an economics professor at Dongguk University. “This notion has led to an overall increase in the marriage age and is now a cause that’s dropping Korea’s birth rates.”

BY SOHN HAE-YONG [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]