9 out of 10 Unmarried Men and Women Say "Low Birthrate Policies Are Ineffective"

High-ranking officials announce '2024 Marriage, Childbirth, and Parenting Perception Survey Results'
Reasons for avoiding marriage... Men cite 'economic burden,' women cite 'marriage role burden'
9 out of 10 unmarried men and women say "Low birthrate policies are ineffective"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Nine out of ten unmarried men and women believe that the current low birthrate policies have been ineffective.

According to the 'Marriage, Childbirth, and Childcare Awareness Survey' released on the 2nd by the Low Birthrate and Aging Society Committee, 89.6% of 2,011 unmarried men and women aged 25 to 49 nationwide responded that the low birthrate issue is serious, but 90.8% judged that the existing low birthrate policies have not been effective.

61% intend to marry... 'First, securing marriage funds'

Among unmarried men and women, 61% expressed an intention to marry or are planning to marry. Conversely, 22.8% answered that they do not want to marry even later, with women (33.7%) showing a lower intention to marry compared to men (13.3%).

For those who intend to marry but remain unmarried, both men and women showed high agreement with the reason "I will marry after saving more funds needed for marriage." In particular, women relatively agreed more with concerns about role changes after marriage.

The main reason for those who do not intend to marry was the burden of gender roles associated with marriage. Men showed high agreement (88.9%) that economic burdens such as wedding costs and preparing a newlywed home were reasons, while women agreed (92.6%) that burdens related to household chores, childbirth, and child-rearing were the reasons.

Both men and women responded that if economic conditions such as housing and jobs, as well as support for work-family balance, improve, their intentions toward marriage and childbirth would change positively.

Respondents indicated that an average of 240 million KRW is needed for housing funds and an additional 79 million KRW for other costs as marriage funds.

61.1% of respondents say "Having children is necessary"... 34.4% of women aged 25-29

Among respondents, 61.1% believed that having children is necessary. Among them, women (51.9%) had a lower rate of believing children are necessary compared to men (69.7%). Especially, only 34.4% of women aged 25 to 29 thought having children was necessary.

They responded that the ideal number of children is 1.8, but only 32.6% of men and women without children (42.4% of married, 29.5% of unmarried) had plans to have children.

Among men and women without children, 57.5% either had no plans to have children (29.7%) or had not decided (27.8%). The main reason was "Pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare seem vaguely difficult," accounting for 40%.

Most women respondents who intended to have children (88.8%) hoped to continue economic activities after childbirth. Especially, the majority of women aged 25 to 29 (92.8%) wished to continue working after childbirth.

This resulted in high demand not only for institutional care but also for home care. Forty-six percent of parents hoped to use institutional care (daycare centers) after their child turned 24 months, and 17.4% of parents with children under 12 months also wished for institutional care.

Working parents perceived securing childcare time (38.8%) as the most necessary to achieve work-family balance. Among them, 39.4% of men and 38.2% of women responded that securing time for childcare was necessary.

Low birthrate issue is serious... 90.8% say policies ineffective

89.6% of respondents answered that the low birthrate issue is serious. However, 90.8% judged that the current low birthrate policies have been ineffective.

Rather, regarding past low birthrate policy campaigns, 41.7% felt indifferent, and 48.0% felt negative.

Respondents said that direct support for childcare time among government measures would be most helpful in solving the low birthrate issue. Especially women responded that fostering a culture of equal parenting participation between men and women would be most helpful (83.9%).

Joo Hyung-hwan, Vice Chairman of the Low Birthrate Committee, stated, "Through this survey, we were able to closely examine perceptions and policy demands regarding marriage and childbirth. We will reflect the survey results to prepare highly effective low birthrate measures and strive to create a childcare-friendly culture and environment."

This awareness survey was conducted from March 29 to April 3 among 2,011 men and women aged 25 to 49 living nationwide.