Marriage losing appeal for Korean women
FOR Kim Eun-jin, a 36-year-old working mother in South Korea, being at work is her “break”.
She gets up at 4.30am every day to get ready for work and returns home at about 8.30pm. What await after her long commute – she lives in Incheon and works in Seoul – are dirty dishes and unfolded laundry.
She makes her own dinner, does the dishes, mops the floor and folds the laundry. Then she spends about 30 minutes talking to her kids – one aged eight, the other 12 – who are looked after by her mother-in-law during the day. She usually goes to bed after midnight.
“If I get to live another life, I’d like to live as a single woman,” Kim told The Korea Herald. “I don’t necessarily regret getting married. But being a working mother can be really hard at times.”
Kim is one of 44% of South Korea’s married women who think marriage is not necessary for everyone. According to a recent study by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, which surveyed 11,009 married women nationwide, 44% said marriage was not mandatory. About 6% said it is in fact better for women to stay single.
Last week, a separate study by the same think tank revealed that 50% of Korea’s single women also think marriage is an option.
“I wouldn’t ‘encourage’ young single women to stay single,” Kim said. “But I would tell them to think carefully before getting married.”
Researchers said poor work-life balance and lack of financial independence may be the main reason why married women feel skeptical about marriage. They noted that married women in their 30s and 40s, as well as those with a low education level were more likely to have a negative view of married life.
The report also indicated that women who are busiest are the unhappiest in their marriage: “Compared to women in their 20s and 50s, women in their 30s and 40s often have to juggle childcare, careers and domestic chores.”
Kim said her work continues even on weekends as she has to cook for her mother-in-law – who lives with her family and wants her breakfast at 6am – while doing other housework. Her husband has longer work hours and gets home very late.
According to the Korea Women’s Development Institute’s data, the employment rate last year was higher for married women with high school diplomas than those with undergraduate or post-graduate degrees.
KWDI researcher Kim Young-ran pointed out that Korea’s male-dominated corporate culture does not allow male employees to fully participate in childcare and family life.
“If work culture does not change, family life won’t change either. And more women will avoid being married.”