결혼 안 해도…'동거 가능' 60%, '아이 가질 수 있다' 31%
Growing number of South Koreans are thinking that marriage might not be for everyone.
According to a wide-ranging social survey by Statistics Korea, six in ten people feel that it's okay for couples to live together when they're not married.
And three in ten feel that it's okay for them to have kids.
Kim Jae-hee has the details.
More South Koreans are becoming open to the idea of unmarried couples living together, and unmarried people having kids.
This is according to a report released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, of a survey of some 38-thousand people aged 13 or older, carried out from May 13th to 28th this year.
These two views have been getting steadily more popular since 2012.
Less than 46 percent replied that unmarried couples can live together in 2012, but the percentage rose to almost 60 in 2020.
Only around 22 percent said people can have kids without getting married in 2012, but by 2020, the figure rose to near 31 percent.
Meanwhile, the report also showed one out of three of those surveyed believed the biggest source of anxiety in society is 'new disease'.
Almost 33 percent of people surveyed picked 'new disease' as the biggest cause of anxiety, more than eleven times the 2-point-9 percent in 2018.
The next biggest anxieties were economic risks with nearly 15 percent, crime with around 13 percent, and national security with more than 11 percent.
Findings also showed that 4 out of 10 South Koreans studied using online media over the past year.
And more than 9 out of 10 teenagers had studied online.
"The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on teenagers' high percentage of online learning as they began online classes in April."
The data also showed 5-point-2 percent of those surveyed have thought of committing suicide at least once in the past year, up point-1 percentage points from two years earlier.
Economic difficulties were the most common reason for suicidal thoughts.
When it comes to the environment, fine dust is a major issue, with 3 out of 4 people worried about it.
Almost 48 percent of people were worried about radiation, 46 percent were worried about harmful chemicals, and around 45 percent about climate change.
Over half of the people surveyed were happy to pay more to protect the environment.
Kim Jae-hee, Arirang News.
