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영어

The purpose of this study is to identify the perceptions of and willingness for marriage among people in their 20s and 30s. The data came from the Korean General Social Survey of the Survey Research Center at Sungkyunkwan University. The sample data set included 292 men and women aged 20 to 39. The major findings are as follows. First, gender, satisfaction with oneʼs household economic conditions, and significantly affect the individualsʼ perceptions of marriage. The results show that the menʼs education level, value of family succession, value of gender roles, and value of parentsʼ role are the significant factors that affect their perceptions of marriage. In the case of the womenʼs perceptions of marriage, the significant factors are their household economic conditions, value of family succession, value of gender roles, and value of childbirth. Second, the willingness for marriage among unmarried people is decided by age, education level, whether one has an income or not, satisfaction with oneʼs household economic conditions, and value of oneʼs childbirth. Overall, gender is the most significant factor that affects the perceptions of marriage among all the other variables. However, menʼs and womenʼs values of gender roles and family succession, respectively, both significantly affect their perceptions of marriage but show opposite coefficient directions. Another finding shows that unmarried people who are willing to marry tend not to have children. This implies that they do not perceive the decision on having a child as a necessary factor behind marriage decisions.