Delayed marriage, childbirth make 30-somethings most economically active

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Delayed marriage, childbirth make 30-somethings most economically active

Published: 21 Feb. 2024, 17:10 Updated: 21 Feb. 2024, 17:28

SHIN HA-NEE
[email protected]

A person looks at job announcements posted on a notice board in Mapo District, western Seoul, on February 16. [YONHAP]

Koreans in their 30s emerged as the most economically active demographic of all age groups, pushing those in their 40s off the top spot for the first time in two decades.

The shift in the country’s active workforce is partly attributed to the growing trend of late marriages and lower birth rates.

According to the latest data from Statistics Korea on economic demography, 81 percent of people aged between 30 to 39 were engaged in economic activities last year. The figure outran the 80.1 percent of those in their 40s for the first time since 2000 when the relevant data began to be tallied.

The labor force participation rate indicates the proportion of the employed and those seeking employment out of the total working-age population, serving as a key barometer of a country’s active workforce available for the job market.

Those in their 40s had the most active participation rate in Korea’s economy for more than 20 years.

In 2000, the number of labor force participants aged between 40 and 49 came in at 5.48 million, falling short of 6.38 million of those in their 30s, as the size of the 40s age group was smaller than the 30s by 1.57 million people.

Yet the participation rate was higher among those in their 40s than other demographic groups at 79.2 percent compared to those in their 20s at 65 percent, 30s at 75.2 percent and 50s at 68.8 percent.

The 40s age group retained its top spot annually until the 30s age bracket displaced them for the first time in 2023.

While those in their 40s saw an increase of 0.9 percentage points in the labor force participation rate from 2000 to 2023, those in their 30s experienced a 5.8 percentage-point jump during the same period.

In contrast, however, the number of labor force participants was higher for the 40s with 6.38 million than the 30s’ 5.5 million, as the population aged 40 to 49 was bigger than those between 30 and 39 by 1.18 million people last year.

The latest shift in the working demographic is rooted in an increase in the average age of marriage and childbirth, according to Statistics Korea.

“The average age of marriage is being pushed up as more people are getting married later in their lives or choosing not to get married, which resulted in a delay in the childbearing age to the late 30s or early 40s,” said Lim Kyung-eun, a senior official of employment statistics at the state agency.

This means that people are now dedicating more time to raising children in their 40s than in their 30s, which made women in their 30s more active in the job market.

The labor force participation of women aged between 30 and 39 drove the growth for the age group, increasing by 139,000 people from the previous year, while that of men in their 30s declined by 73,000. However, this also led to an increase in career breaks for women in their 40s, which has been constantly growing in number since 2021.

“Childless women in their 30s are mitigating the labor supply slowdown, but this may ultimately result in the decline in the working-age population and a labor shortage, further aggravating socio-economic issues,” said Kim Ji-yeon, a researcher at the Korea Development Institute.

BY YI WOO-LIM [[email protected]]