Behind the common refrain "I can't marry because I can't find the right person" lie structural problems such as housing costs and employment instability, a new analysis has found.
According to a report titled "Marriage Trends and Changing Perceptions in Korea" released Wednesday by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA), 43.2% of 1,251 unmarried respondents aged 19 to 49 who expressed willingness to marry cited "not finding a suitable partner" as the top reason for remaining single. The survey included those who were never married, divorced or widowed.
"Inability to secure housing" ranked second at 20.0%, followed by "lack of stable employment" at 19.5% and "wanting to focus on other pursuits" at 9.3%.
Kim Eun-jung, an associate research fellow at KIHASA who authored the report, noted that the most popular response is more complex than it appears. "The answer that they haven't found a suitable partner may look like a personal choice on the surface, but it should actually be read as the combined result of fewer opportunities to meet people and intertwined social and economic conditions," she said.
"Previous studies show that economic resources such as income level and whether one works at a large corporation significantly affect the likelihood of romantic relationships," Kim added. "As labor market instability and income disparities deepen, the very opportunities to form relationships can shrink."
Kim stressed that the issue should not be attributed to individual choices or attitudes. "Rather than blaming the absence of a marriage partner on personal preference, we need to view it as a structural problem that constrains both opportunities for relationship formation and the conditions that make marriage feasible," she said. "Policy direction must also shift beyond simply encouraging marriage toward simultaneously expanding opportunities to meet potential partners and lowering the barriers to marriage."