Credit: Public domain.
According to a study from December 2021 by the Seoul National University 국립서울대학교, young people’s political attitudes have a significant correlation with their desire for marriage.
In an in-depth survey of 817 respondents aged between 20 and 34, 13.1% belonged to a group that said they are willing and likely to date, but not marry or have children. This group, which the researchers termed the “Non-Marriage Group 비혼집단,” leaned strongly liberal: 44% of this group identified themselves as progressive, and only 9% was conservative. The Non-Marriage Group is 62% women and 78% college graduates.
In contrast, 3.8% belonged to a group that the researchers named the “Gap Group 괴리집단,” as they had a strong desire to date, marry and have children, but did not think they were likely to be able to do any of them. In the Gap Group, 32% self-identified as conservative, double of the overall (16%) self-identification as conservative in this age group. Sixty-five percent of the Gap Group were men, with 58% college graduates.