Men, women have different reasons for not having romance

A survey indicates that there are significant differences between men and women in why they do not have romantic relationships. Most men cited "financial burdens" for not dating women, while a majority of women said they wanted "free and comfortable life."

In a recent survey of 2,464 single men and women at ages 20-44 conducted by the state-funded Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, 74.2 percent of male respondents (846 men) and 68.2 percent of females (903 women) said they did not have any romantic relationship.

Asked why they remain single, the top-two common reasons were either "I have not found the right one yet" or "I do not feel the need to have any romantic relationship." Still, 20.6 percent of woman said they wanted to maintain the freedom and comfort of being single, higher than the 12.2 percent of men. In contrast, just 1.5 percent of women cited "financial burdens" as the reason for being single, compared with 9.7 percent men who mentioned the same reason.

People with jobs were more likely to have romantic relationships than jobless respondents. The poll showed that 30.6 percent of men with jobs and 33.9 percent women with jobs were dating the opposite sex, compared with 18.1 percent men and 27.3 percent woman without jobs. The survey results suggest that having a job has become an important condition not only in marriage but also in romance.


Eun-Seo Park clue@donga.com