Report: Half of South Koreans do not want to marry or have children

A government report in South Korea showed that half of the population believes that marriage and childbirth after marriage are not necessary, which illustrates the demographic crisis in the country amid a record low birth rate.

Only 50 percent of South Koreans aged 13 or older said marriage was a must. Among the male respondents, 55.8 percent expressed support for marriage, but only 44.3 percent of female citizens expressed support for marriage, according to the report released by the Korea Statistics Agency on the country’s social indicators for 2022.

The report showed that while 65.3 percent of South Koreans said childbirth was necessary after marriage, the percentage dropped to 41.1 percent among teenagers, the lowest among age groups.

Among those in their twenties, 44% said that childbirth is necessary for married life, and 54.7% of those in their thirties considered childbirth a must.

In 2022, the country’s total fertility rate, which is the average number of children a woman will have in her lifetime, will be 0.78, the lowest since 1970 when the rate was 4.53.

Last year’s figure was well below the “replacement level” of 2.1 that would keep South Korea’s population stable at 51.5 million.