A report from the Committee on Low Birth Rates and Aging Society indicates that the percentage of women who think about marriage has increased from 48% to 57% over the past year. The committee noted that particularly encouraging is the increase in positive perceptions among women in their 20s.
The committee announced the findings of a survey titled 'Awareness Survey on Marriage, Childbirth, Parenting, and Government Policies on Low Birth Rates' on the 20th. This survey was conducted from March 31 to April 10, targeting 2,650 citizens aged 25-49 nationwide. It represents the third set of results following those from March and September of last year.
According to the committee, the positive perception of marriage among all male and female respondents was 72.9%. This is an increase from 70.9% in March last year and 71.5% in September. The intention to marry also rose from 61% in March last year to 65.2% this time.
The committee explained that the intention to marry among women surged dramatically. The percentage of women considering marriage was 48.2% in March last year, while this survey showed it has increased to 57.4%. The committee stated that this positive perception is also detected among women in their 20s. The percentage of women in their 20s who positively view marriage has risen to 61%, up from 59.2% a year ago, and the percentage of 20-something women intending to marry increased to 64%, from 56.6% last year.
The committee explained that positive changes have also emerged regarding perceptions of children and childbirth. Those responding that 'having children is necessary' rose from 61.1% in March last year to 70.9% in this survey. The intention to have children among unmarried men and women, as well as married men and women, also increased during the same period from 32.6% to 39.7%.
As for the demands for improvements in childcare services, households with infants cited "expense support or reduction" (63.4%), while households with elementary school children most frequently pointed out "program improvements and enhancement of service quality" (70.6%). To facilitate smooth parenting in dual-income households, the most essential factors identified were a "work culture that allows for flexible use of childcare support systems" (55.6%), "guaranteed opportunities and times for utilizing care services" (39.8%), and "expansion of systems to secure childcare hours" (36.3%).
Among respondents, 'housing supply' was identified as the highest recognized and expected measure to address low birth rates. In the section asking which government low birth rate initiatives they had heard of or knew about, "expanding housing supply for newlyweds, expectant parents, and multi-child households" (77%) recorded the highest response rate. Other notable measures included "implementing free education and childcare policies for kindergartens and nurseries" (75.3%), and "relaxing the income criteria for special loans for newborn households" (74.9%), both showing response rates over 70%.
Respondents indicated policy areas to strengthen in the future: ▲additional increases to the cap on parental leave benefits (53.5%) ▲expansion of tax benefits for marriage and childbirth households (52.2%) ▲expansion of government support for child care services (47.8%) ▲additional relaxation of income criteria for purchasing dwellings and jeonse loans (45.1%).