Marriage Trends and Marriage Transition in Korea

Abstract

Marriage is one of the most important factors to explain the lowest low fertility in Korea where illegitimate births account for only 2% of total births. Nevertheless, marriage, particularly marriage transition from never married to married has been rarely studied in Korea. The purposes of this study are to investigate marriage trends and marriage transition patterns in Korea. For the purposes, this study conducts various demographic analyses on current marriage patterns at population level and statistical analyses on marriage transition at individual level utilizing data from the Korea Labor and Income Panel Study between 2001 and 2008. The results of demographic analyses show the postponed marriages trends and the weakening social norm for marriage age particularly among single females, and the individual analyses reveal economic resource effects different by age and gender, and positive influence of parents’ resource. The results also show that the probability of first marriage is likely to be decreased by long working hours and increased by residential independence from parents. This study demonstrates the necessity of marriage support policy to encourage marriages at younger ages and outlines future research agenda.