Sing= les Represent 20 Percent of Households

By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter

The number of people living alone has surged over the = years as an increasing number of the young are delaying marriage, mainly due to economic hardship, and more elderly people are living alone apart from their children.

The average number of family members has also dropped, pointing to a growing number of nuclear families in the country.

According to the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Wednesday, the number of people living alone rose 42.5 percent to 3.17 mill= ion last year from 2000, accounting for 20 percent of the country's total households. About 15.5 percent of people lived alone five years ago.

The number of ``two-member households'' also increased= 28.9 percent to 3.52 million over the same period, equivalent to 22.2 percent of households nationwide.

The number of households with three members rose 11.3 percent to 3.32 million in 2005, while the number of households with four people fell 3.6 percent to 4.29 million. The figure is equivalent to 27 per= cent of the total, down from 31.1 percent in 2000, according to the statistics office.

Also, the average number of family members decreased t= o 2.88 in 2005 from 3.12 in 2000 and 3.34 in 1995.

“More people in their 20s and 30s are putting off their marriage and staying single as they are trying to find jobs in a tight labor market. Also, a larger number of the elderly now decide to live alone rather than stay with their children after the death of their spouses,̶= 1; an NSO official Shin Seung-woo said.

“A rise in divorces and childless couples has al= so contributed to lowering the average number of family members,” he sai= d.

Shin also said the trend, a drop in the number of fami= ly members, would likely continue as the country is grappling with an increasi= ngly aging population and rapidly declining birthrate.

The statistics office said the number of households in= the country increased 11.1 percent to 16 million last year from 14.4 million in 2000.

Men were the head of about 12.5 million households, accounting for 78.1 percent of the total, while the remaining 3.5 million <= span class=3DGramE>households, or 21.9 percent, were headed by women.

The number of residences increased 15.3 percent to 13.2 million last year from five years ago. Of which, about 7 million residences= , or 52.7 percent of the total, were apartments.

= leehs@koreatimes.co.kr

07-26-2006 18:05

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