"Marriage is Essential" Among Youth, Decreased by 12.5%P Compared to 6 Years Ago

Comprehensive Survey on Youth Aged 9-24
0.6%P Decrease Compared to 3 Years Ago
Positive Lifestyle Changes After COVID-19 Pandemic
Increase in Youth Communicating with Parents

Amid a declining trend in the number of marriages and birth rates, the proportion of adolescents who think "one must get married" is gradually decreasing.

On the 1st, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced the results of the "2023 Comprehensive Survey on Youth" conducted from July 11 to September 3 last year, targeting 7,423 youths aged 9 to 24 and primary caregivers from 5,000 households nationwide. This survey is a nationally approved statistic conducted every three years under Article 15-2 of the Youth Basic Act to grasp the awareness, attitudes, and lifestyles of youth and to serve as basic data for youth policy formulation.

Photo by Joint Photo Coverage Team

In this survey, the percentage of youths who responded that "one must get married" was 38.5%, which is 0.6 percentage points lower than three years ago in 2020. Compared to the survey six years ago in 2017 (51.0%), it decreased by 12.5 percentage points.

Additionally, the proportion of respondents who said that even if they marry, it is not necessary to have children was 60.1%, similar to the 2020 survey (60.3%).

[Source: Ministry of Gender Equality and Family]

The proportion of people who perceive our society as generally fair, respectful of human rights, and accepting of diversity also increased compared to three years ago.

After the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, perceptions of life have shown positive changes. The survey on life changes after the end of COVID-19 showed that the percentage of respondents who felt positive changes increased across six categories: family relationships, friendships, school life, and overall life. In particular, the percentage of respondents who felt their overall life had positively changed rose by 16.2 percentage points compared to the 2020 survey (13.4%).

[Source: Ministry of Gender Equality and Family]

When looking at the resilience levels of youth by age group, those aged 9-12 scored 2.84 points, and those aged 19-24 scored 2.83 points, both higher than the average score (2.81 points). In contrast, those aged 13-18 scored 2.77 points, which is below the average.

The proportion of youths who have conversations with their parents 4 to 6 times a week increased in all categories compared to three years ago. Also, the percentage of youths who talked with their father or mother for more than two hours increased by 8.7 percentage points and 18.0 percentage points, respectively.

The criteria for youths’ job selection have significantly increased in areas such as their own abilities (up 5.2 percentage points) and popular appeal (up 1.6 percentage points) compared to three years ago.

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