Six in 10 Newlywed Couples Are Dual-Income, Earning Twice as Much as Single-Income Pairs

Dual-income newlywed couples in South Korea earned an average of approximately 100 million won ($74,000) annually last year, nearly twice as much as single-income couples, according to government data released Wednesday.

About four in 10 newlywed couples own their homes, with the median outstanding loan balance at 179 million won, the data showed.

The number of newlywed couples—defined as those married for less than five years—fell 2.3% to 952,000 pairs last year from 974,000 in 2023, according to the 2024 Newlywed Couples Statistics released by the National Data Center. This marks the second consecutive year below 1 million pairs, following 2023 when the figure first dropped below that threshold since the government began tracking the data in 2015.

First-marriage couples accounted for 756,358 pairs, or 79.4% of all newlyweds. Their average annual income rose 5% to 76.29 million won from 72.65 million won the previous year. The Data Center attributed the increase to more couples with both spouses working.

The proportion of dual-income couples among first-marriage newlyweds reached 59.7% last year, up 1.5 percentage points from a year earlier. Dual-income couples earned an average of 93.38 million won annually, 1.7 times the 55.26 million won earned by single-income couples.

While rising dual-income rates have boosted household incomes, the number of children has declined. The share of first-marriage couples without children rose 1.3 percentage points to 48.8%. The average number of children per couple also fell by 0.02 to 0.61.

The childless rate among dual-income couples was 50.9%, 6.1 percentage points higher than the 44.8% rate for single-income couples. So-called "DINK" (dual income, no kids) couples reached 230,162 pairs, or 30.4% of dual-income newlyweds, surpassing the previous record of 29.3% in 2023. Analysts say the data reflects the continuing difficulty of balancing work and childcare in Korean society.

The homeownership rate among first-marriage newlyweds rose 1.9 percentage points to 42.7% last year. Ownership rates increased with marriage duration—from 35.8% in the first year to 50.9% by the fifth year. Apartments accounted for an overwhelming 77% of housing types.

The share of newlywed couples with outstanding loans fell 0.9 percentage points to 86.9%. The median loan balance rose 5% year-on-year to 179 million won.