Census Says Korean Families Shrinking

One in five Korean households is comprised of one member. The number of 2-member households sharply increased, dropping the average number of members below three for the first time.

The report on the 2005 census by the Korea National Statistical Office (KNSO) showed that as of November 1, 2005, the total number of Korean household is about 15.99 million, rising by 1,597,000 (11.1 percent), compared to 2000 (about 14.39 million).

A household is a unit where its members live together. If a couple lives separately due to work, they are considered as two households.

The number of 1-member household is 3,171,000, increasing 946,000 (42.5 percent) from 2000 (2,224,000). That is equivalent to 20.0 percent, up from 15.5 percent five years ago.

The number of households with two members went up 790,000 (28.9 percent) to 3,521,000, equivalent to 42.2 percent (6,692,000) of households nationwide.

The average number of family members recorded below three for the first time, at 2.88.

Jeon Shin-ae, director of the Population & Social Statistics Bureau of the KNSO, said, “The number of people who live alone is increasing as more and more people divorce and marry late.”

Although the number of households comprised of two generations is still more than half of the total households, 8,807,000 (55.4 percent), it showed a decrease from 2000 (60.8 percent).

Among the households, the number of households with parents and children dropped 190,000 to 6,702,000 last year from 6,892,000 in 2000.

But the number of households that consist of one parent and children increased 246,000 (21.9 percent) to 1,370,000 from 1,124,000. Also, grandparents and grandchildren live together more than in 2000, up by 13,000 (28.5 percent) to 58,000 from 45,000, showing the collapse of a typical family image.

Men were the head of about 12.4 million households, accounting for 78.1 percent of the total, while the remaining were headed by women. But the rate of women household heads (31.4 percent) increased faster than that of men (6.4 percent).

About 1,794,000 households or 11.3 percent have their own house in another area. Among them, 1,047,000 households (6.6 percent) have more than two houses. About 14.2 percent of the leased households and 5.4 percent of the rented households have their own house.

The total number of houses in Korea is about 13.22 million, up 15.3 percent from five years ago. Apartments account for more than half of the total number of houses, accounting for 6,963,000 or 52.7 percent.

About 608,000 households (3.8 percent) are not equipped with a bath and about 952,000 (6.0 percent) have no flush toilet or no toilet at all.

Suk-Min Hong smhong@donga.com