South Korea: 7 out of 10 people say couples can live together without marriage

Seoul: Almost seven out of 10 South Koreans said couples can live together without marriage, while nearly four in 10 replied that couples can have a baby out of wedlock, a statistical office survey showed on Tuesday.

According to the Statistics Korea poll of around 36,000 respondents aged 13 and older conducted between May 15 and May 30, 67.4 per cent said couples can live together without tying the knot.

Support for cohabitation was on the rise from 46.6 per cent in 2014 to 56.4 per cent in 2018 and 65.2 per cent in 2022.

Of the total respondents this year, 37.2 per cent said couples can bear a child without getting married.

The ratio has also been on the increase from 22.5 per cent in 2014 to 30.3 per cent in 2018 and 34.7 per cent in 2022.

Those who replied that people must or had better get married came to 52.5 per cent of the total this year, fluctuating from 56.8 per cent in 2014 to 48.1 per cent in 2018 and 50.0 per cent in 2022.

When asked why they were reluctant to marry, 31.3 per cent cited a shortage of money for marriage, followed by 15.4 per cent with the burden of childbearing and rearing and 12.9 per cent with job instability.