Visitors enjoy an outing at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul. This photo is provided to aid understanding of the article. News1
The share of Koreans who believe marriage is essential has fallen to 16.4 percent, a study found. As family structures shift rapidly amid declining marriages and a rise in single-person households, analysts say existing family policies centered on blood ties and marriage need to change.
According to a report titled “Research on Redefining the Direction of Family Policy in Response to Family Change and Exploring Implementation Systems,” published Saturday by the Korean Women’s Development Institute, the number of marriages in Korea fell from about 430,000 in 1996 to about 220,000 in 2024. The perception that marriage is essential weakened significantly over the same period. The figure, which stood at 25.7 percent in 2006, dropped to 16.4 percent last year.
Household types are also diversifying. As of last year, single-person households accounted for 36.1 percent, while the share of non-relative households, in which people without blood ties live together, was tallied at 2.4 percent as of 2022. The researchers analyzed that this change signifies not merely a shift in family form but a transformation in individuals’ relationship networks and lifestyles overall.
“Loneliness Is Not an Individual Problem”: Overseas Responses at the National Level
The researchers diagnosed that social isolation and loneliness are emerging as new social risks amid the weakening of family functions. As the roles of care and emotional support once performed by families weaken, the problems individuals must shoulder alone are increasing, they said.
Overseas, loneliness is being recognized as a social problem and addressed accordingly. In 2018, the United Kingdom became the first in the world to appoint a minister for loneliness within the government and pursued a five-year “connected society” plan. Germany also operates a loneliness network committee centered on the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, and in 2023 announced a national strategy to address loneliness.
The researchers emphasized that Korea, too, should approach social isolation through policy rather than viewing it solely as an individual responsibility.
“Need for Life-Oriented Family Policy”: Proposal to Expand Support for Relationship Networks
The report recommended that future family policy should not remain confined to traditional family support but expand toward supporting individuals’ lives and social relationships. To this end, it suggested the need for support in forming various relationship networks for self-care, the creation of a culture that respects family diversity, and the overhaul of laws and systems to match the changed reality.
“At a time when the shape of families and the environment surrounding them are changing rapidly, family policy must expand into life-oriented policy that reflects the changed realities of life,” Director Kim Jong-sook said. “Since social isolation and loneliness are closely connected to issues of housing, care, health and safety, family policy must also be transformed toward supporting social connection.”
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