earticle

영어

The average age of first marriage of South Korea has shown a rapid increase in the past few decades. Recent studies have emphasized that changes in regional economic conditions are closely aligned with the increase in late marriage and non-marriage. However, while the regional variations such as housing prices are different between regions, the timing of first marriage does not show much difference by region. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the relationship between regional variations and the timing of the first marriage varies depending on the areas. The main results of this study are as follows. Firstly, it was found that residence in the metropolitan area has increased the average age of first marriage, because high housing prices in the metropolitan area have an positive impact on the timing of first marriage. Second, the timing of the first marriage is affected by economic conditions of the region in Seoul Metropolitan Area, but impacted by demographic characteristics in non-Seoul Metropolitan Area. The results of this study imply that any future policies designed to improve marriage and childbirth need to be implemented after considering the regional characteristics.