Korea's 'Kkiri Kkiri Marriage' Rate Lower Than Major Countries... "Favorable for Reducing Inequality"

Lower Tendency of Assortative Mating by Income Compared to OECD Countries
Influence of Lower Proportion of Single-Person and Single-Parent Households

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] In South Korea, the tendency for income homogamy?marriage between individuals with similar incomes?is weaker than in major countries, and the proportions of single-person households and single-parent households are also lower compared to other major countries. This is analyzed to be favorable for alleviating household structure inequality.

On the 19th, the Bank of Korea stated in its report titled "The Impact of Income Homogamy and Household Structure on Household Income Inequality: Focusing on International Comparisons" that household structures represented by "dual-income households in large corporations and professional occupations" and "the proportion of single-person households" can significantly affect household income inequality through the effect of income sharing within households.

According to the report, when examining income inequality levels step-by-step (from employed individuals' labor income → total individual labor income → household labor income → household market income → household disposable income), all countries showed that household labor income inequality was significantly lower than individual labor income inequality, and household disposable income inequality was significantly lower than household market income inequality. Park Yong-min, Deputy Director of the Financial and Monetary Research Division at the Bank of Korea's Economic Research Institute, explained, "This means that individual labor income inequality arising in the labor market is being mitigated by income sharing effects within households and government redistribution policies."

Deputy Director Park added, "A distinctive feature of South Korea is that, unlike most non-Asian countries where the effects of income sharing within households and government redistribution policies work evenly, the effect of government redistribution policies is small, while the income sharing effect within households is large." He explained, "The weak tendency for income homogamy in South Korea is because, despite frequent marriages between high-income men and women, heterogeneous marriages?such as between high-income men and non-employed or low-income women, or between low-income/non-employed men and women with median or higher incomes?occur relatively more frequently compared to major countries."

The report used data from the Household Financial Welfare Survey for South Korea and the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) data for major countries. The countries analyzed included 33 OECD member countries plus Taiwan, an Asian country, totaling 34 countries. For international comparisons, the latest pre-COVID-19 year available in the LIS was used for foreign countries, and 2019 data was used for South Korea.

According to the report, the rank correlation coefficient and correlation coefficient between spouses' labor incomes were 0.03 and 0.06 respectively, values close to zero, ranking 33rd and 32nd out of the 34 countries analyzed, placing South Korea near the bottom. The income homogamy index, which measures how frequently households with similar spousal incomes occur compared to random mating, was also the lowest among the countries analyzed at 1.16 times (average 1.60 times).

Additionally, the proportions of single-person households and single-parent households in South Korea were 14.7% and 4.0%, respectively, lower than those of major countries (22.6% for single-person households and 7.4% for single-parent households). However, since the Household Financial Welfare Survey applies the concept of "economic family," which considers spouses living apart due to work, study, etc., and unmarried children as part of the same household?unlike household registration data?the figures are lower than those from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Statistics Korea.

Simulation results estimate that if South Korea's income homogamy and household structure were the same as those of major countries, the household equivalized labor income Gini coefficient would increase from the actual 0.361 to an average of 0.396. In a somewhat extreme scenario where South Korea becomes like the Nordic countries, household equivalized labor income inequality would rise from 0.361 to 0.417. In this case, South Korea's ranking in household disposable income inequality among major countries would rise from 10th to as high as 3rd, following Colombia and the United States.

Deputy Director Park stated, "South Korea has a lower tendency for income homogamy and is closer to 'lottery marriage' compared to major countries like the United States, where 'like marries like' culture is strong." He added, "Household structure also works favorably for income sharing effects within households, compensating somewhat for relatively high labor market inequality and insufficient government redistribution policies." He emphasized, "This study used data from 2019, before COVID-19, and it cannot be ruled out that income homogamy tendencies and household structures may change in ways unfavorable to inequality alleviation in the future. Therefore, policy efforts are needed to reduce labor market inequality and establish public mechanisms to mitigate inequality."

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