Low Birthrate Reversal Signal?..."30s Women Saying 'I Plan to Marry and Have Children' Surge"

Low Fertility and Aging Society Committee Announces Survey Results
"More Unmarried Men and Women Say 'I Will Marry and Have Children'"
"Policies with High Public Awareness Must Continue to Be Introduced"

A survey revealed that the number of unmarried men and women intending to marry and have children has increased.

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On the 14th, the Low Fertility and Aging Society Committee announced the results of the 'September Marriage, Childbirth, and Parenting Awareness Survey,' conducted by Korea Research from August 31 to September 7 (with a sample error margin of ±2.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level). This survey was conducted again following the one in March and targeted 2,592 individuals aged 25 to 49 nationwide.

Among unmarried men and women, the proportion who answered that they "want to get married" rose by 4.4% from 61% in the March survey to 65.4%. In particular, the marriage intention among women aged 30 to 39 surged from 48.4% to 60.0%. Additionally, among childless men and women, those who expressed an intention to have children increased by 5.1% from 32.6% in March to 37.7%. Among those who are married but have no children yet, the intention to have children rose by 8.3 percentage points from 42.4% in March to 50.7%. The government assessed that policies encouraging childbirth, such as raising the upper limit of parental leave pay to a maximum of 2.5 million won per month starting next year and expanding housing supply for newlyweds and families with children, have shown effectiveness.

In this survey, the proportion of respondents who answered that "children are necessary" was 68.2%, an increase of 7.1% compared to 61.1% in March. Among women aged 25 to 29, who had the lowest response rate in March (34.4%), 48.1% answered that "children are necessary" this time. Among childless men and women, 37.7% said they "plan to have children." Those who answered "do not plan to have children" accounted for 24.8%, while the rest responded with "considering it" (26.9%) or "never thought about it" (10.6%).

However, satisfaction with childbirth and parenting support policies remains low. Those who currently have children cited "the burden of child-rearing expenses" (46.1%) and "the difficulty of parenting itself" (40.7%) as the main reasons for not having additional children. Respondents selected items related to work-family balance as the most important measures to address low birth rates, such as "conditions for using childcare support systems without social pressure" (88.1%, multiple responses allowed) and "using leave or time off when needed" (87.5%). Professor Yoo Jae-eon of Gachon University’s Department of Social Welfare explained, "Along with establishing work-family balance, policies with high perceived impact, such as 'newborn special loans,' must continue to be introduced to reverse the birth rate decline."