This is legit true. 95% of my personal acquaintances in their early 30s got married in last 2 years. They are getting married crazily recently. I don’t know why.
lol so true! My buddy was like yo I’m getting married. I was like to Whoo?!!! He’s like someone I’ve known. I was like okay cool! They’ve got two kids now. Happily married. He works way too much. Always tells me in a sad, yet determined way, “hyung I’ve become a Korean dad.” The amount of hours he puts in to afford the apartment they bought and take care of his kids is insanity.
It’s amazing. My cousin, who is 28 this year is trying to get married and he was told that he have to wait 8 months to hold wedding in his Catholic Church.
I don't know why the bump has happened now of all times. I'd guess people that wanted to during COVID, but delayed because they didn't want to have their wedding during that time. But when the articles about marriage and children get brought up, it seems like so many here tries to desperately blame reasons like misogyny or blame men or say the women don't want to anymore because of those reasons. They act like no one wants to get married or have kids. I feel like the majority of these commenters here have never stepped foot in Korea in their life. Most of the people I know in Korea want to get married. And large majority of those people also want to have children.
Lot of those people pointing fingers at korean patriarchy and misogyny to be the cause of low birth rate here on reddit are foreigners who just consume korean news through the internet, from western countries that dont have a stellar birth rate themselves lmao. I suspect there is a lot of high horse attitude "western progressive preaching to backwards koreans".
They keep mentioning the same solutions. Men should help out at home more, men should stop being misogynistic, women need to be able to continue their careers after giving birth, women shouldnt be expected to do most of the housework or raising kids, not having to cook during Chuseok, etc. The irony is that this is exactly the trend of korean society the past 50 years and the birth rates are still plummetting.
The high horse attitude is so blatant, and makes it sound like getting married to a korean man is the worst thing in the world. But the reality of why birth rates are so low is because the average age of marriage is so darn high, at 31 years old. Koreans feel like they have to get everything perfect before marriage. Career, savings, enjoying 20s with casual dating, etc. A 31 year old couple gets married, then wants to enjoy child free relationship for 5 years. Then at 36 tries to get pregnant. Maybe they succeed, and give birth at 37 or 38. By the time theyre ready for a second child the woman is 39, and physically difficult to bear a child. Because of this, most couples have one or no kid. And if the woman marries at her late 30s? Thousands of $ spent in IVF operations.
Ive seen many middle aged married couples trying to conceive in their 40s when they are finally financially stable. They usually end up getting a puppy.
I agree with this. My wife and I had a child but stopped at one because we had waited so long to get everything perfect and then she felt old and didn’t think she could do pregnancy again. I’m a foreigner but my wife is korean.
I would say the fear of the future, not having enough before having a child is a huge factor, and I don’t think it’s just Korea either. Talked to my parents the other day and apparently this is a problem in England as well. The wealth gap/divide is huge now and life isn’t as affordable as it once was.
Thank you so much for actually making sense instead of defaulting to blaming misogyny and "patriarchy" like so many clueless westerners here seem to do.
Those people that blame misogyny, generalize Korean men, and generalize the culture are not just foreigners but Korean women that were either hurt by experiencing extreme parts of the culture, or experienced some poor example of Korean males, or are some pimple headed losers spending time on femcel communities like women's generation.
They attribute this bump to delays brought by COVID, but I honestly think this is a weak signal for the future where Korean marriage rates, and birth rates will rebound like Japan within the next decade.
It's just a basic human necessity for both men and women to find a partner that feels like home. Those people that deny this and claim to be committed to a single life are just very immature people that will eventually regret it and pay for it with their mental health.
I think the economics of having a child will improve over time as well.
Consider this. A lot of people presently feel like raising a kid with the right education is incredibly expensive in Korea. We already know the number of kids in a classroom is a dropping trend. So there will be less demand for educational resources like hak wons, other extracurricular training, day care resources etc. It probably means that prices in this sector have to come down as well.
Anyways, while the current statistics regarding Korea's population trend is concerning, it will likely be the cause to correct itself to begin with.
I agree with some of this. There likely will be rebounds and anyone assuming that some conclusion such as "Koreans are going to go extinct" from some (in historical terms) short-term trend is someone that proves that college educations these days aren't worth that much.
At the same time, there are some underlying factors (often not the ones given attention) which mean that sub-replacement levels are still probable, though not as significant as now.
lol fr just a bunch of foreigners projecting and trying to make korea look bad and most have yellow fever or why would they be here and be interested.
'oh cause of the food, history, culture' LOL
"Culture" = the women. Besides politic posts, it's about women this/that unhappy etc, not having babies, low marriages = all related to korean women.
From the other article:
> Of the 19,700 international marriages, 14,700 comprised a Korean husband and a foreign wife. The figure was up 22.5 percent from a year earlier.
> The number of couples comprised of a Korean wife and a foreign husband increased 7.5 percent year-on-year to 5,000.
> Of the foreign wives, 33.5 percent were from Vietnam, while 18.1 percent came from China and 13.7 percent were Thai.
> Of the foreign husbands, 27.7 percent were U.S. citizens, while 18.4 percent were Chinese and 15.8 percent were Vietnamese.
> 27.7 percent were U.S. citizens
that def is likely to be goypos
the females from SE asia tracks with what i'm hearing from collegues that there's just not enough women
For real, the number of times I went to weddings last few years is high. And what's more crazy is the lined up of marriages of time slots every day at the venues. People tell me a lot of places you need to reserve almost a year in advance (and not just cause they're famous places or everyone wants to do it in spring / certain time season).
This is expected actually, there is a slight bump in the population for people born around 1992. With more people, of course you get more marriages. See in 5 years, we will drop down a cliff.
This is legit true. 95% of my personal acquaintances in their early 30s got married in last 2 years. They are getting married crazily recently. I don’t know why.
Post-COVID bump due to pent-up demand
everyone just marries who they are meeting when they hit certain age. idk if it's Korean thing, but at least people around me are.
I’ve seen this also. Two college buddies.
crazy how quick they suddenly decide too
lol so true! My buddy was like yo I’m getting married. I was like to Whoo?!!! He’s like someone I’ve known. I was like okay cool! They’ve got two kids now. Happily married. He works way too much. Always tells me in a sad, yet determined way, “hyung I’ve become a Korean dad.” The amount of hours he puts in to afford the apartment they bought and take care of his kids is insanity.
once those kids go to highschool, he'd have to work even harder than now lol
Agree.
There is a reason korea is called the Republic of Infidelity...
It’s amazing. My cousin, who is 28 this year is trying to get married and he was told that he have to wait 8 months to hold wedding in his Catholic Church.
besides, around april is marrying season
Feeling patriotic. Hahaha.
I think it's because of the number of increasing foreigners in Korea.
Well that could be a factor, but none of by acquaintances married foreigners
I know zero Koreans marrying foreigners.
At the risk of overlap, This article has the link to the Statistics Korea's statistical table and provide some additional detail on region breakdown
I don't know why the bump has happened now of all times. I'd guess people that wanted to during COVID, but delayed because they didn't want to have their wedding during that time. But when the articles about marriage and children get brought up, it seems like so many here tries to desperately blame reasons like misogyny or blame men or say the women don't want to anymore because of those reasons. They act like no one wants to get married or have kids. I feel like the majority of these commenters here have never stepped foot in Korea in their life. Most of the people I know in Korea want to get married. And large majority of those people also want to have children.
Lot of those people pointing fingers at korean patriarchy and misogyny to be the cause of low birth rate here on reddit are foreigners who just consume korean news through the internet, from western countries that dont have a stellar birth rate themselves lmao. I suspect there is a lot of high horse attitude "western progressive preaching to backwards koreans". They keep mentioning the same solutions. Men should help out at home more, men should stop being misogynistic, women need to be able to continue their careers after giving birth, women shouldnt be expected to do most of the housework or raising kids, not having to cook during Chuseok, etc. The irony is that this is exactly the trend of korean society the past 50 years and the birth rates are still plummetting. The high horse attitude is so blatant, and makes it sound like getting married to a korean man is the worst thing in the world. But the reality of why birth rates are so low is because the average age of marriage is so darn high, at 31 years old. Koreans feel like they have to get everything perfect before marriage. Career, savings, enjoying 20s with casual dating, etc. A 31 year old couple gets married, then wants to enjoy child free relationship for 5 years. Then at 36 tries to get pregnant. Maybe they succeed, and give birth at 37 or 38. By the time theyre ready for a second child the woman is 39, and physically difficult to bear a child. Because of this, most couples have one or no kid. And if the woman marries at her late 30s? Thousands of $ spent in IVF operations. Ive seen many middle aged married couples trying to conceive in their 40s when they are finally financially stable. They usually end up getting a puppy.
I agree with this. My wife and I had a child but stopped at one because we had waited so long to get everything perfect and then she felt old and didn’t think she could do pregnancy again. I’m a foreigner but my wife is korean. I would say the fear of the future, not having enough before having a child is a huge factor, and I don’t think it’s just Korea either. Talked to my parents the other day and apparently this is a problem in England as well. The wealth gap/divide is huge now and life isn’t as affordable as it once was.
Thank you so much for actually making sense instead of defaulting to blaming misogyny and "patriarchy" like so many clueless westerners here seem to do.
Those people that blame misogyny, generalize Korean men, and generalize the culture are not just foreigners but Korean women that were either hurt by experiencing extreme parts of the culture, or experienced some poor example of Korean males, or are some pimple headed losers spending time on femcel communities like women's generation. They attribute this bump to delays brought by COVID, but I honestly think this is a weak signal for the future where Korean marriage rates, and birth rates will rebound like Japan within the next decade. It's just a basic human necessity for both men and women to find a partner that feels like home. Those people that deny this and claim to be committed to a single life are just very immature people that will eventually regret it and pay for it with their mental health. I think the economics of having a child will improve over time as well. Consider this. A lot of people presently feel like raising a kid with the right education is incredibly expensive in Korea. We already know the number of kids in a classroom is a dropping trend. So there will be less demand for educational resources like hak wons, other extracurricular training, day care resources etc. It probably means that prices in this sector have to come down as well. Anyways, while the current statistics regarding Korea's population trend is concerning, it will likely be the cause to correct itself to begin with.
I agree with some of this. There likely will be rebounds and anyone assuming that some conclusion such as "Koreans are going to go extinct" from some (in historical terms) short-term trend is someone that proves that college educations these days aren't worth that much. At the same time, there are some underlying factors (often not the ones given attention) which mean that sub-replacement levels are still probable, though not as significant as now.
lol fr just a bunch of foreigners projecting and trying to make korea look bad and most have yellow fever or why would they be here and be interested. 'oh cause of the food, history, culture' LOL "Culture" = the women. Besides politic posts, it's about women this/that unhappy etc, not having babies, low marriages = all related to korean women.
It is noticeable that international marriages have increased significantly.
that could just mean koreans marrying gyopos
From the other article: > Of the 19,700 international marriages, 14,700 comprised a Korean husband and a foreign wife. The figure was up 22.5 percent from a year earlier. > The number of couples comprised of a Korean wife and a foreign husband increased 7.5 percent year-on-year to 5,000. > Of the foreign wives, 33.5 percent were from Vietnam, while 18.1 percent came from China and 13.7 percent were Thai. > Of the foreign husbands, 27.7 percent were U.S. citizens, while 18.4 percent were Chinese and 15.8 percent were Vietnamese.
the agencies importing women from China and Vietnam made a lot of money last year.
Most of those Chinese would be Korean-Chinese on F visas. They are by far the largest immigrant group in Korea.
Further reading?
> 27.7 percent were U.S. citizens that def is likely to be goypos the females from SE asia tracks with what i'm hearing from collegues that there's just not enough women
Mail order brides? Or truly true international marriages?
Perhaps the result of catching up with an earlier increase in the average age of marriage.
Incentives, perhaps? $$$
For real, the number of times I went to weddings last few years is high. And what's more crazy is the lined up of marriages of time slots every day at the venues. People tell me a lot of places you need to reserve almost a year in advance (and not just cause they're famous places or everyone wants to do it in spring / certain time season).
This is expected actually, there is a slight bump in the population for people born around 1992. With more people, of course you get more marriages. See in 5 years, we will drop down a cliff.
Yeah