30s Who Gave Up on Home and Marriage: "I Drive Foreign Cars and Trade Stocks"

Government Faces Cold Public Opinion on Low Birthrate and Aging Population Measures
"Comprehensive Employment Stability, Childcare, and Care Policies Needed Instead of Child Allowance"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee]"To buy a house in Seoul now, you need at least 800 to 900 million won. There is no option other than stocks."

Kim (33), who works in the financial industry, has recently been increasing his stock investment, focusing on information and communication technology (IT), gaming, and entertainment stocks.

On the 5th, Kim said, "In my parents' generation, you could buy a house with the money earned from work, but in our generation, no matter how much we earn, we can't buy a house, so I started investing in stocks first." He added, "The burden of housing has increased, so I have also postponed plans for marriage."

As in Kim's case, the difficulty of owning a home recently has led to an increase in delayed marriages. According to the '2020 Single-Person Household Statistics' released by Statistics Korea in December last year, single-person households aged 30-39 accounted for 33.7%, the second highest after those aged 20-29 (36.9%).

According to resident registration population statistics announced by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 3rd, as of December 31, 2020, the proportion of 1- and 2-person households combined reached 62.6% of all households. This is 6.1 percentage points higher than in 2016 (56.5%). This is interpreted as reflecting changes in the traditional concept of family and generational shifts.

Some chose self-investment instead of saving for marriage expenses. Hong (30), a professional, said, "Marriage can only happen if I can buy my own house," adding, "I recently purchased a foreign car, judging that buying real estate alone is impossible."

In fact, according to statistics from the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA), among 154,501 imported cars purchased by individuals in Korea, those bought by people in their 30s accounted for 32.1% (49,650 cars). Hong said, "Even if I get married, I won't have children just because of a few hundred million won," adding, "Employment stability, childcare, and care policy support need to be drastically improved for childbirth to be possible."

There were couples who, despite being married, delayed childbirth and raised pet dogs. Freelancer Kim (35) said, "I got married at the end of last year, but we postponed plans for children due to my wife's career break," adding, "Instead of having a child immediately, we decided to raise a pet dog to observe the timing." He also said, "It would be better to differentiate special supply points between general newlyweds and couples with one child rather than providing lump-sum child allowances."

The government's previously announced 4th Basic Plan for Low Birthrate and Aging Society includes measures such as infant allowances and changing the multi-child criteria from three children to two. However, experts point out that these methods cannot fundamentally solve the low birthrate problem. Professor Jung Soon-dul of Ewha Womans University’s Department of Social Welfare advised, "Besides increasing subsidies, there are not many measures for young people. The current young generation basically needs quality jobs and home ownership to consider marriage and childbirth."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.