Young People Postponing Marriage Face Even Harder Employment Challenges

Last Year's Decline in Marriage Numbers Sharpest Among Late 20s
Newly Employed Aged 15-29 Records Largest Drop in 2 Years

Last year, the total number of marriages recorded the lowest ever at 192,000, with a particularly sharp decline in marriages among those in their late 20s. The number of new jobs for young people aged 15 to 29 in February this year saw the largest decrease in two years. This reflects a facet of Korean youth who are postponing marriage and facing even greater difficulties in finding employment.

According to Statistics Korea on the 19th, the number of marriages among men in their late 20s last year was 37,600, down 3,400 (8.4%) from the previous year. For women, the number decreased from 63,600 to 59,000 during the same period, a drop of 3,800 (7.2%).

As a result, the average age at first marriage rose to 33.7 years for men and 31.3 years for women, increasing by 0.4 years for men and 0.2 years for women compared to the previous year. This indicates that the timing of marriage has been delayed accordingly.

Employment has become more difficult. In February this year, the number of employed youth (aged 15-29) was 3,853,000, down 125,000 from the same month last year (3,978,000). This is the largest decrease in two years since February 2021, when employment dropped by 142,000. The downward trend has continued for four consecutive months.

In particular, the number of employed people in their 20s decreased by 94,000, showing the largest decline. Employment among those aged 20-24 fell by 73,000, and among those aged 25-29 by 21,000.

Accordingly, the employment rate relative to the population of young people fell to 45.5%, down 0.4 percentage points compared to the same month last year.

Seo Woon-ju, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, stated, "The number of unemployed people and the unemployment rate among those in their 20s and 30s have increased, but there is a base effect because employment was very high and unemployment was low in February last year." He added, "While we need to observe the trend a bit longer, there may be frictional unemployment and waiting unemployment due to more experienced hires than new hires."

The number of unemployed people in their 20s increased from 273,000 in February last year to 278,000 this February, and in their 30s from 141,000 to 146,000. The unemployment rate in February this year rose by 0.3 percentage points to 7% for those in their 20s, and by 0.1 percentage points to 2.7% for those in their 30s.