'Standard Specs for Successful Marriage: Man 37 Years Old, Annual Income 70 Million Won... What About Women?'

A recent survey conducted by a marriage information company on first-marriage couples who got married in the past two years revealed that the average age at marriage was 36.9 years for men and 33.9 years for women. Additionally, the median income of those who successfully married was found to be 70 million KRW for men and 45 million KRW for women.

On the 26th, the marriage information company Duo announced the "2024 Marriage Statistics Analysis Report" based on a sample survey of 3,774 first-marriage couples who married between June 2022 and May of this year, out of approximately 49,000 registered marriage members.

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According to the report, the average age at first marriage was 36.9 years for men and 33.9 years for women, which is 2.9 years and 2.4 years higher, respectively, than the average first-marriage age (men 34 years, women 31.5 years) announced by Statistics Korea this year. The average age difference between first-marriage couples was 2.9 years. Couples where the husband is older accounted for 86.0%, with the largest group being couples where the husband is 4 years older at 17.6%. Couples of the same age made up 8.2%, and couples where the wife is older accounted for 5.8%.

The median annual income of first-marriage men was 70 million KRW, and for women, it was 45 million KRW. In 81.3% of couples, the husband’s income was higher, which is about five times more than the 16.3% of couples where the wife’s income was higher. The proportion of couples where the wife’s income was higher increased by 1.3 percentage points compared to the previous year (15.0%).

Three out of five couples married someone with the same educational background. Couples where both spouses graduated from a four-year university accounted for the largest share at 48.9%, followed by couples where the husband had a higher education level (24.0%) and couples where the wife had a higher education level (17.7%).

By occupation, the proportion of 'general office workers' was high for both men and women. However, in the case of 'doctors and pharmacists,' there was a clear tendency to marry spouses in the same profession, indicating a preference for unions within similar professional or public service fields.

Furthermore, the average period from the first meeting to marriage was 14.8 months, dispelling the stereotype that couples who meet through marriage information companies marry quickly.

Meanwhile, according to the population trends announced by Statistics Korea on the same day, the number of marriages in April was 18,039, a sharp increase of 24.6% compared to the same month last year. This is the highest increase ever recorded for April. Marriages had been declining for 11 consecutive years from 2012 to 2022, but the number of marriages postponed due to factors such as gathering bans during the COVID-19 pandemic increased, leading to a rise in marriages last year, with a 1% increase compared to the previous year, marking a shift to an upward trend.