Monthly Living Expenses for Single-Person Households in Gyeonggi-do 1.68 Million Won... Satisfaction Score 3.48 Points

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The average monthly living expenses for single-person households in Gyeonggi-do is 1.61 million KRW, and the most desired policy is the relaxation of rental housing entry conditions.

Gyeonggi-do conducted an online and offline survey over two months from July to August targeting 3,540 single-person households aged 20 to 80 who have lived in the province for more than one year, and announced the results of the "Gyeonggi-do Single-Person Household Status Survey Research Project" on the 1st. This is the first time a local government has conducted a status survey on single-person households.

The survey results showed that the life satisfaction of single-person households in the province averaged 3.48 out of 5 points.

The average duration of living alone was 7 years and 7 months, with 1 to 5 years accounting for the largest portion at 40.2%. Those living alone for over 30 years accounted for 2%.

The reasons for living alone were ▲distance from their workplace or school (31.2%) ▲divorce or separation from spouse (21.5%) ▲bereavement of family members (20.5%) ▲personal convenience and freedom (18.5%) in that order.

In terms of economic activity, the average monthly total income of single-person households was 2.895 million KRW, and the average monthly total living expenses were 1.6168 million KRW. Overall, 80.4% were economically active, but among those aged 65 and over, the economic activity rate was only 59.0%.

Additionally, 63.2% of respondents had not prepared for old age, with the most common reason being "It is difficult to maintain current living standards" (84.2%).

The types of housing occupied were owner-occupied (31.5%), jeonse (long-term deposit lease) (29.3%), and monthly rent with deposit (23.8%) in that order. The average residential area was 16.6 pyeong (54.8㎡).

The most needed support policy for single-person households was housing stability, such as relaxing rental housing entry conditions, scoring 4.17 points. This was followed by improving residential environments such as repairing deteriorated facilities (4.06 points), providing economic and job support such as personal skill development programs (3.97 points), and creating safe environments such as installing streetlights in remote areas (3.91 points).

Lee Soon-neum, Director of the Women's and Family Bureau of the province, said, "The number of single-person households in the province has rapidly increased from 1.19 million in 2018 to 1.4 million in 2020, so we proactively conducted this status survey to establish comprehensive support policies for single-person households." She promised, "We will prepare support policies that can provide practical help, such as establishing support plans for single-person households based on the results of this survey."

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