7 out of 10 Single-Person Households "Intend to Continue Living Alone"

More than Half of Single-Person Households Are Aged 50 or Older... 4 out of 10 Are Unmarried
Half Earn Less Than 1 Million Won per Month... 'Housing Costs' Are the Biggest Financial Burden

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] More than half of single-person households are elderly aged 50 and over. Among 10 single-person households, 4 are unmarried and 3 are widowed. More than 7 out of 10 responded that they intend to live alone, indicating that the proportion of single-person households is expected to gradually increase.

On the 30th, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, together with the Korean Women's Development Institute and Statistics Korea, conducted the '2020 Family Survey' targeting 10,997 households nationwide to investigate the characteristics of single-person households. By age, the largest groups were those aged 70 and over (26.7%), in their 60s (19.0%), and in their 50s (15.4%).

The marital status of single-person households was 40.2% unmarried, 30.1% widowed, and 22.3% divorced or separated. The proportion of common-law marriages or cohabitation without marriage was 7.4%. By gender, females (53%) outnumbered males (47%).

More than 7 out of 10 single-person households (72.1%) responded that they intend to continue living alone. The higher the age, the higher the rate of intention to live alone. Among those in their 20s, 55.2%, and 60% of unmarried individuals, expressed the intention to live alone, suggesting an increase in single-person households. Widowed (89.3%) and divorced or separated (83.7%) single-person households showed a high rate of intention to continue living alone.

The anticipated difficulties when continuing to live alone were economic hardship (35.4%), illness or health deterioration (34.4%), and psychological difficulties (10.6%), in that order.

Half Have Income Below 1 Million KRW... Biggest Burden is 'Housing Costs'

Half of single-person households have a monthly income below 1 million KRW. The most common income brackets were 500,000 to under 1 million KRW and 1 million KRW range, each accounting for 25%, followed by the 2 million KRW range at 18.8%. By residential area, Gyeonggi Province (21.0%) and Seoul (20.6%) had the highest proportions, while other cities and provinces had less than 10% single-person households.

Most single-person households (69.5%) earn their living expenses independently. Among those in their 20s, 23.5% receive support from parents, while 24.7% of those in their 60s and 45.7% of those in their 70s reported receiving public assistance.

The biggest expenditure burden for single-person households is undoubtedly housing costs. The older the age group, the more they feel the burden of medical expenses. The burdensome items were housing costs (35.7%), food expenses (30.7%), and medical expenses (22.7%), in that order. The housing cost burden was highest among those in their 30s at 53.0%, and those in their 20s also reached 43.2%. About half of those under 20 felt the burden of food expenses, and the burden of medical expenses was higher among those aged 60 and above, with those aged 70 and over (55.5%) feeling it the most.

Regarding policies needed for single-person households, 'housing stability support' was the most cited at 50.1%. Especially, over 80% of those in their 20s and 30s responded that housing policy support is necessary. The proportion who said care service support is needed was 13.4%, but demand was high among those aged 70 and over (34.4%). The proportion who said psychological, emotional, and social network support is needed was 8.6%, with demand exceeding 10% among those aged 50 and above.

Biggest Difficulty is 'Meals'... Women Report Difficulty in 'Dealing with Illness'

Single-person households across all ages reported difficulties in having a 'balanced meal.' Males (47.1%) reported more difficulty than females (38.1%). Next were ▲dealing with illness or emergencies (30.9%) ▲household chores preparation (25.0%) ▲economic insecurity (19.5%) ▲loneliness (18.3%), in that order. The proportion of females (33.6%) who said dealing with illness or emergencies is difficult was higher than that of males (28.0%).

The main reasons for living as a single-person household varied by age. Those in their 20s to 40s cited study or employment, while those aged 60 and above mostly cited widowhood. According to the survey, the reasons were ▲study or employment (24.4%) ▲death of spouse (23.4%) ▲wanting to live alone (16.2%), in that order.

The average duration of living as a single-person household was 9 years and 11 months. The most common durations were 10 to under 20 years (24.8%), 1 to under 3 years (18.1%), and 5 to under 10 years (17.5%). The longer the age, the longer the period of living alone. Those in their 20s averaged 3 years and 1 month, those in their 40s 10 years and 6 months, and those in their 60s 12 years and 1 month.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family plans to strengthen family policies reflecting the life cycle of family types in response to the rapidly increasing family forms and changing values. Support will be expanded by life cycle stages such as youth, middle-aged, and elderly due to the increase in single-person households, and social network support projects to prevent loneliness and isolation will be implemented. Family centers will be gradually expanded. To eliminate policy blind spots according to family types, revisions to related laws such as the 'Healthy Families Basic Act' will also be pursued.

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