Half of S. Koreans see marriage, childbirth as not a must: survey

SEOUL. KAZINFORM - Half of South Koreans viewed marriage as unessential and nearly 60 percent of those in their 10s and 20s said childbirth after marriage is not a must, a government report showed Thursday, illustrating the country's demographic crisis amid a record-low birthrate, Yonhap reports.

Only 50 percent of South Koreans aged 13 and older said marriage is a must. Of male respondents, 55.8 percent voiced support for marriage, but only 44.3 percent of female citizens did so, according to the report by Statistics Korea on the country's social indicators for 2022.

While some 65.3 percent of South Koreans said childbirth is needed after getting married, the proportion fell to 41.1 percent among teenagers, the lowest level among age brackets, the report showed.

Of those in their 20s, 44 percent said childbirth is essential for marriage life, and 54.7 percent of those in their 30s regarded childbirth as a must.

In 2022, the country's total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime, came to 0.78, marking the lowest since 1970, when it was 4.53.

Last year's figure was much lower than the replacement level of 2.1 that would keep South Korea's population stable at 51.5 million.