Korean newlyweds filled with DINKs, debt and dipping birthrates

A woman passes by a wedding dress shop in Ahyeon-dong in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Monday. [YONHAP]

Korea’s newlywed couples were burdened with record-high amounts of debt last year while having the least number of babies in history. The number of married couples also decreased by 6.3 percent to 1.03 million in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to Statistics Korea on Monday.

The statistics agency polled the country’s newlyweds whose marriage registration is less than five years old as of November last year.

The median debt for respondents came to 164.2 million won ($124,600), up 7.3 percentage points from a year ago, with 89 percent of the surveyed couples in debt.

More newlyweds in Korea are falling into the category of DINK (Dual Income No Kid). The majority, or 57.2 percent, of the newlyweds have a dual income, up 2.3 percentage points on year.

The proportion of dual-income households is on the decline with many females quitting their jobs to concentrate on child-rearing.

The average income of dual-income couples stood at 84.3 million won compared to a single-income household with 49.9 million won.

As for children, 46.4 percent of the surveyed couples had no child, marking the highest rate since the data was collected.

The portion of those with no children inched up 0.6 percent last year compared to the previous year, pushing the average number of children per household down to 0.65, again a record low.

The Korean government introduced a wide range of subsidies and support programs aimed at boosting the world’s lowest birthrate, but the trend has scarcely been reversed.

Dual-income couples were less likely to have children as their average number of children came at 0.59 compared to single-income counterparts’ 0.73 last year.

The number of the recently-married people has been on the steady decline since 2015 when related data started being compiled. There were 1.47 million couples in 2015, but the figure has since dropped to 1.43 million in 2016, 1.38 million in 2017 and 1.32 million in 2018.

If the downward trend continues, the one million threshold will likely shatter this year.

Most of them reside in Seoul and the nearby metropolitan areas in Gyeonggi. A total of 29.9 percent of those polled live in Gyeonggi, 17.8 percent in Seoul and 6.1 percent in the nearby Incheon.

But all cities and regions saw a year-on-year decline in the number of newlyweds.

Of the newlyweds, 79 percent are in their first marriage and 20.7 percent have remarried.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]