82% of Unmarried Women in Their 30s in Seoul Support Pregnancy and Childbirth via Sperm Bank

Seoul Museum of History Survey: 82% of Unmarried Women Support Sperm Bank
Women in Their 30s in Seoul Unbound by Family and Childbirth

The majority of unmarried women in their 30s living in Seoul have expressed a positive stance toward the introduction of a 'sperm bank' as a solution to the ultra-low birth rate issue.

The Seoul Museum of History, which has been conducting annual research projects on the lives of Seoul citizens since 2020, announced the results of its fifth study, titled "Pregnancy and Birth Culture of Seoul Citizens," on July 4.

This survey was conducted online over two days, from November 13, 2023, targeting a total of 600 unmarried men and women aged 30 to 39 (300 men and 300 women each).

The results showed that 82% of the 300 unmarried women in their 30s living in Seoul supported the introduction of a sperm bank, while the approval rate among male respondents was 66%.

Among men, 65.3% said they viewed both marriage and childbirth positively, but only 33.7% of women expressed the same view, falling below half. Conversely, the proportion of women who held a negative attitude toward both marriage and childbirth was 35.7%, more than twice the rate among men (15.7%). Additionally, 25.3% of women stated that they wanted to get married but did not intend to have children, leading to the analysis that a total of 61% of women held a negative view toward childbirth.

Men and women also differed in their main reasons for not wanting children. Men cited: ▲ economic burden (63.0%), ▲ lack of confidence in parenting (42.4%), ▲ social environment (32.6%), and ▲ being happier alone or with a partner (22.8%), in that order.

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For women, the reasons were: ▲ economic burden (38.3%), ▲ a society that makes raising children difficult (33.9%), ▲ burden of childcare (31.7%), ▲ career interruption (24.0%), and ▲ being happier alone or with a partner (15.8%).

The report explained, "In particular, concerns about career interruption were high among women aged 30 to 33," and added, "This shows that the younger the career starter, the more childbirth is perceived as a major obstacle to their career."

There were also differences in policy conditions for encouraging childbirth. Men placed greater importance on practical economic support, such as ▲ childcare cost support (64.1%), ▲ housing support (55.4%), and ▲ easing of private education expenses (51.1%). In contrast, women responded that improvements in the institutional and cultural environment were more important, such as ▲ achieving gender equality (56.8%), ▲ ensuring social safety (55.2%), and ▲ fairness in social structure (51.9%).

Only 39.3% of women viewed childcare cost support as a key policy, while only 26.1% of men prioritized achieving gender equality, highlighting differences in policy approaches between the genders.

When asked about accepting 'singlehood' as an alternative lifestyle to marriage and childbirth, 82.3% of women and 65.3% of men responded positively, with the rate higher among women. Regarding 'non-marital childbirth,' or having children without getting married, 49.0% of women and 47.0% of men expressed a positive stance.

Perceptions of children also showed contrasting results. Among female respondents, 90.3% answered, "Children restrict my freedom," while 53.3% of men responded, "Children are a source of motivation," revealing a clear difference in perspective.

Interest in the low birth rate issue also differed by gender. While 77.7% of male respondents said they were "very" or "somewhat" interested, 43.6% of women indicated a lack of interest, with 8.3% saying "not interested at all" and 35.3% saying "not very interested."

The report analyzed, "Among women in their 30s living in Seoul, the tendency to pursue a life not bound by traditional family structures or childbirth is growing stronger," and added, "Considering that Seoul is a representative 'female-majority city,' the pace of change in family structure could be rapid."