Even if Raised in the Capital Area and Attending University, Marriage Prospects Are Lower Than in Provinces

Growth Regions and University Locations Linked to Marriage Possibility
“In the Highly Competitive Capital Area, Survival Comes Before Marriage”

A study found that young people who grew up in the Seoul metropolitan area and entered universities located in the metropolitan area have a lower likelihood of marriage compared to young people from provincial areas who attended universities in the provinces. In the highly competitive metropolitan area, survival tends to be prioritized over marriage.

The latest issue of the journal Health and Social Research, published by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on the 15th, featured an analysis of the ‘Youth Panel 2007’ data, which tracked the transition of youths aged 15 to 29 from school to the labor market from 2007 to 2020.

A university campus located in the Seoul metropolitan area
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The study extracted 4,200 young respondents who were aged 33 or older at the time of the last survey (considering the average age of first marriage) and categorized them into four groups based on their region of upbringing and university location.

Examining the likelihood of marriage among the four groups divided into the metropolitan area (Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi) and other provincial areas, the group that grew up in the provinces and attended provincial universities had an 18% higher likelihood of marriage than the group that grew up in the metropolitan area and attended metropolitan universities.

The proportion of married individuals, identified by marital status, was also highest in the group that grew up in the provinces and attended provincial universities (61.4%), followed by those who grew up in the provinces but attended metropolitan universities (59.8%), those who grew up and attended universities in the metropolitan area (56.6%), and those who grew up in the metropolitan area but attended provincial universities (54.5%).

The author, Gahyeon Kim (corresponding author Geuntae Kim), analyzed, “Generally, the metropolitan area, where the population is dense and good universities and jobs are limited, fosters a high level of personal competitiveness, leading individuals to prioritize survival over marriage and childbirth.”

He added, “These psychosocial characteristics within the metropolitan area influence all aspects of young people’s development, likely raising the barriers to marriage relatively higher.”

[Image source=Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs capture]

In particular, for women, the characteristics of the region where they grew up and the region of their university showed a more significant interaction than for men. Women who grew up in the provinces and attended provincial universities had a 30.1% higher probability of marriage compared to the metropolitan group.

Regarding this, the author explained, “This seems to be because the perception that work and marriage are in conflict remains strong among women.”

The author emphasized, “The study confirmed that the current youth’s process of independence, labor market entry, marriage, and childbirth is related to metropolitan concentration. Measures are needed to alleviate competition and anxiety, such as improving job quality and stabilizing prices and housing costs.”

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