Facing harsh economic realities, more Korean couples saying 'I don't'

Social Affairs

Published: 04 Feb. 2024, 16:37 Updated: 04 Feb. 2024, 16:39

Facing harsh economic realities, more Korean couples saying 'I don't'

A wedding dress shop located in Ahyeon-dong, Seodaemun District in western Seoul on Jan. 26 [NEWS1]

Many young Koreans now consider marriage a luxury.

Financially insecure people shun marriage, while more economically confident people tie the knot, raising the average income level of newlyweds.

Financial ability is the make-or-break factor in the contemporary marriage market, trumping previously critical elements such as in-law approval and personal compatibility.

In an online community for marriage tips, 36 posts sought advice for breaking off engagements in the last two months. Of them, 16 — 44.4 percent — were related to financial issues.

Differences in personality traits and behavioral patterns followed with 12 posts. The third and fourth most cited reasons for breakups were issues with in-laws or the partner’s past, such as divorce or medical problems.

According to Statistics Korea, not only has the country’s total marriage count dwindled, but the average income level of newlyweds has been increasing sharply.

A total of 303,000 couples got married in 2015 and 193,000 in 2021, while the authorities estimate that 190,000 couples got married last year.

In 2022, 41.8 percent of all newlyweds in their first year of marriage had an annual income exceeding 70 million won ($52,280). In 2015, only 23.2 percent of newlywed households did. In other words, the percentage nearly doubled in just seven years.

In the same period, the percentage of newlywed couples earning over 100 million won a year rose from 7.8 percent to 18.8 percent.

The percentage of well-paid newlyweds is growing compared to total households as well.

Of all households in Korea, those making more than 70 million won in a year accounted for 26.7 percent in 2015 and 34.1 percent in 2022, a mere 7.4 percent increase.

Unmarried couples in lower income brackets have been left discouraged.

33-year-old Cha ended a 5-year-long relationship with his girlfriend this year.

The couple once dreamed of getting married but gave up. They frequently fought over how to afford a home in the greater Seoul area.

“My ex-girlfriend and I lost confidence in our relationship because our yearly income was around 60 million won, which was not enough to afford an apartment jeonse [a lump sum deposit contract] and housing loan interest,” Cha said. “We were emotionally drained after countless heated arguments over money.”

Cha added that they couldn't even dream of having a child when money was tight.

Cha’s case is not unique.

"Reality is cruel when people call off engagements because they cannot afford a home in Seoul."

“We are weighing whether to get married because it is beyond our capability to move to an apartment with our current income. We live together in a small flat paying 800,000 won in monthly rent,” the other internet user wrote.

According to a survey by Duo Information — the largest matchmaking company in the country — unmarried Koreans between 25 and 39 said the ideal husband’s annual income should be around 60 million won, and a wife’s should be 43 million won.

They also said the ideal net worth of a husband and wife was 334 million won and 216 million won, respectively.

However, these expectations clash with cold, hard economic realities.

According to Statistics Korea, the average annual earned income of unmarried men in their 30s is around 39 million won; for women, it is 33 million won. The average net worth of men in their 30s is 174 million won, while that of women is 172 million won.

Apartment purchasing and rental prices on the window of a realtor’s office in Seoul last October. According to the signs, the sales price of a 114 square-meter apartment unit was 2.8 billion won, while that of a 59-meter unit was 1.55 billion won.[NEWS1]

Today’s newlyweds prefer apartments, unlike in previous generations, when newlyweds tolerated humble beginnings in small flats.

According to Statistics Korea, 65.2 percent of newlyweds lived in apartments in 2022, compared to 57.7 percent in 2015.

That is to say, nearly two-thirds of newlyweds begin their married lives in apartments.

Simultaneously, the number of newlyweds living in multifamily homes shrank from 13.6 percent in 2015 to 12 percent in 2022.

Surging residential costs apparently didn't bother recent newlyweds, either.

According to Statistics Korea, the average purchasing price of apartments between 40 and 85 square meters in Seoul in December 2021 was nearly 2.5 times higher than in the same month in 2015. The prices of similarly sized apartments in the greater Seoul area also doubled in the same period.

The price hike narrowed the probability of getting married.

In the old days, when the economy boomed, people’s earned income increased equally. They could afford housing even when housing prices spiked.

However, incomes cannot keep up with soaring real estate prices today. Thus, no matter how diligent and frugal newlyweds are, they cannot ensure their residential environment will improve.

Apartment buildings in Seoul. The photo was taken in Jan. 21 from Namsan in central Seoul. [YONHAP]

Unless newlyweds are prepared well from the very beginning, they hesitate even to give marriage a start.

In Korea, most couples have children after they marry. This makes marriage a precondition to births.

In this context, decreasing marriages may be a fundamental cause of the country’s dropping birthrate.

Experts say that stabilizing the housing environment for newlyweds must come before solving the birthrate crisis.

“People with lower incomes cannot keep up with the rising housing prices, making them postpone or give up on marriage,” said Ma Kang-rae, an urban planning and economy professor at Chung-Ang University.

“The government should proactively help stabilize the housing environment for newlyweds and lower preferences toward metropolitan areas.”

BY LEE SOO-JUNG, KIM MIN-JOONG, YI WOO-LIM [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]