2020 Population and Housing Census
[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] The proportion of unmarried men in their 30s has exceeded 50% for the first time. This means that half of men in their 30s are not married. The proportion of unmarried people in their 30s, which was only in the 10% range in 2000, has jumped to 42.5% in 20 years.
According to the '2020 Population and Housing Census (sample) results' announced by Statistics Korea on the 27th, as of November 1 last year, the proportion of unmarried men in their 30s was 50.8%. The Population and Housing Census is conducted every five years, and compared to 2015 (44.2%), it increased by 6.6 percentage points, the largest increase among all gender and age groups. The proportion of unmarried women in their 30s also rose by 5.5 percentage points to 33.6%, making the overall proportion of unmarried people in their 30s 42.5%. This is an increase of 6.2 percentage points compared to five years ago (36.3%), the largest increase among all age groups.
The proportion of unmarried people relative to the total population was 31.1%, slightly down from 31.3% in 2015. However, this is not due to an increase in the married population but is analyzed as an effect of low birth rates, which caused a significant decrease in the population aged 15-19 entering the newly marriageable age group (15 years and older). Nam-soo Jeong, head of the Population Census Division at Statistics Korea, explained, "Excluding the 15-19 age group from the unmarried population, the divorced population is increasing in all age groups."
The proportion of divorced people aged 30 and over was 7.2%. It has been on the rise following 5.3% in 2010 and 6.5% in 2015. By gender, the proportion of divorced women (7.7%) was higher than that of men (6.7%).
Looking at educational attainment, compared to 2015, the number of graduates from regular schools increased by 2,052,000, while the number of students enrolled decreased by 884,000. The decrease in enrolled students is also due to the decline in the younger population caused by low birth rates.
Among the population aged 30 and over, the proportion of those with a university degree or higher increased from 38% in 2015 to 43.1% in 2020. The proportion of men with a university degree or higher steadily decreased from 58.4% (2010) → 56.3% (2015) → 55.2% (2020), while during the same period, women increased from 41.6% → 43.7% → 44.8%. Accordingly, the gender education gap is continuously narrowing.
The social participation rate of the population aged 20 and over was 29.8%. The highest social participation rate was among those in their 50s at 37.1%, followed by those in their 60s (33.9%) and 40s (33.0%).
As the elderly population aged 60 and over increases, the sources of living expenses for the elderly were 26.8% from their own and spouse’s work or occupation, 12.7% from pensions (public + private), and 11.1% from government and local government subsidies. As the age of the elderly increases, the proportion of living expenses from work or occupation decreases, while the proportion of support from children and government subsidies increases. However, among the elderly aged 60 and over, the proportion who prepare their living expenses by themselves was 57.7%, an 8 percentage point increase compared to 49.7% in 2015.
Additionally, households with companion animals numbered 3,129,000, accounting for 15.0% of all households.
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