Results%20of%20a%20preliminary%20survey%20on%20%E2%80%98Marriage%20and%20Gender%20Perceptions%20of%20Young%20People%20in%203%20Asian%20Countries%20(Korea,%20Mongolia,%20and%20Vietnam)%E2%80%99(2).png

“Willingness to get married”, Mongolia 89%, Vietnam 84.1%, South Korea 52.5%

“Willingness to have babies”, substantially low in Korean Females

Compared to other Asian countries such as Vietnam and Mongolia, a survey result showed that Koreans are significantly less likely to get married and have children.

On November 3, KoPHWA announced an online survey result on 1,003 unmarried young people between the ages of 19 and 29 from 3 Asian countries(South Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam) together with the Vietnam Family Planning Association(VINAFPA) and the Mongolian Family Welfare Association(MFWA). It was conducted for the purpose of a preliminary survey for demand-based Official Development Assistance(ODA).

◆ Having wealthy parents, South Koreans say, “will get married”, Mongolian say, “not an option”

Researching on the ‘willingness to get married’, 88.8% of Mongolian, 84.1% of Vietnamese, 52.5% of South Koreans responded that they are willing to get married(definitely want + want to get married).

As for South Korean and Mongolian respondents, there were differences in the numbers according to the economic statues of their parents. For South Koreans, the percentage of respondents who are willing to get married was 62.4% when the economic status of their parents were ‘high’, 53.9% when it was ‘middle’, and 45.4% when it was ‘low’.

On the other hand, it is noticeable that Mongolian are less likely to get married when the economic statuses of their parents get higher. In Mongolia, the percentage of those who responded that they are willing to get married was 71.4% when their parents' economic status was 'high', 89.2% when they were 'middle', and 100.0% when they were 'low'.

Regarding the marriage age, △Mongolian males were 27 and females were 26.2 years old △Vietnamese males were 28.3 and females were 25.4 years old. This is much lower than the average age of first marriage in Korea, which was 33.4 years old for males and 31.1 years old for females, surveyed by the Statistics Korea(KOSTAT) in 2021.

◆ ’Willingness to have babies’, Vietnamese·Mongolian 84%, South Korean 44%

As a result of the survey on intention to give birth, 84.8% of Vietnamese, 84.6% of Mongolia, and 43.9% of Korea responded that they had an intention to give birth. (definitely want + want to have babies)

As for the willingness to have babies by gender, Mongolian females recorded a higher number of 89.5% compared to 71.1% recorded by males. Vietnamese also recorded 85.0% in case of males, 84.7% in females. On the contrary, Korean males wanted to have children more than females, in addition to the overall much higher willingness to have babies than other two countries, recording 53.6% in males and 32.9% in females.

Preference on the sex of their children was recorded as follows in Vietnam; Both daughter and son: 58.0%, Don’t matter: 36.2%, daughter: 5.1%, son: 0.7%. In Mongolia preference was recorded as; Both daughter and son: 45.8%, Don’t matter: 43.0%, son: 6.3%, daughter: 4.9%. Number of babies wanted was 3.2 for Mongolian and 2.1 for Vietnamese.

Regarding cohabiting and sexual life, there were considerable differences among 3 countries. 68.7% of South Koreans, 48.8% of Vietnam, and 28.4% of Mongolia responded that they could accept it if their lovers asked them to live together.

In Vietnam and Korea, in particular, male consent rates were higher than female consent rates. In Vietnam, 80.0% of males and 38.7% of females agreed, and in Korea, 77.6% of males and 58.5% of females agreed.

43.4% of Mongolian, 21.4% of Vietnamese, 21.3% of South Korean, responded they have cohabited with their lovers on the research of cohabiting experience. When asked about the reason for cohabitation, 76.3% of Korean and 76.9% of Vietnamese answered ‘Naturally, without any particular reason’ as the first and main reason, and in Mongolia, cohabitation before marriage was the highest at 51.2%, showing differences among countries.

66.9% of Mongolian responded, 56.1% of South Koreans, 34.8% of Vietnamese answered that they have had experience of sexual intercourse with their lovers. In Vietnam and South Korea, the rate of sexual experience was high when living in large cities.

Meanwhile KoPHWA will host ‘Global Forum on International Population Trends and ODA’ on November 4, 11:00 AM in the Conference Room 8 of the National Assembly hall.

Latest Updates

Results of a Preliminary Survey on ‘Marriage and Gender Perceptions of Young People in 3 Asian Countries (Korea, Mongolia, and Vietnam)’