It’s Not “Singlism,” It’s “Unmarriage”

Have you seen the drama “WWW”? The main character of the drama “BAE-Tami” is considering “unmarriage”, and reflecting on the changing of people’s values these days. Like in the story of the drama, there are many people that support unmarriage-not getting married-because of difficulty in finding a job, the increasing of house prices, and differences in values with the older generation. In this article, we will find out why unmarriage people decided on unmarriage, and what is the background of their choice.

What percentage of university students who could get married within the next 15 years have declared their support for unmarriage? Also, why do others want to get married? To find out about this, the Pharos surveyed Kyonggi University students.

First, only 21.4% of students answered, “I will get married” “I have not decided yet” was chosen by 35.7% of students, and 42.9% students answered, “I will not get married,” which was the most common response. These results show distinct differences from the past when almost all people favored marriage. The reasons most frequently given for the increasing number of unmarriage people were a harsh society and self-development, both of which were mentioned by 29% of the respondents. The next most common reason was the parenting burden at 14%, while economic reasons, women’s rising economic power and a changing awareness of marriage were each selected by 7 percent of the survey respondents. Other reasons chosen by Kyonggi University students include career breakups, an unreliable social atmosphere such as dating violence or sexual crimes, the patriarchal system, and high-income conflicts. In response to the last question, “If you wanted to get married, but your partner believed in unmarriage, would you be willing to follow her or him?” the most common answer -given by 42.9% of respondents- was “I don’t know.” Most of the respondents said they thought that the reason for their response could vary depending on the situation. The opinions of those who said they would not respect their partner’s wish were that they would not start dating a person who favored unmarriage and that they strongly wanted to get married.

Then, what are the social reasons for increasing number of unmarriage persons? In the past, the belief that it is important and makes one happy to live with a huge family was dominant. Therefore, almost every person married and had children. Nowadays, however, awareness of the importance of the individual’s needs and honor has been established, so if marriage is undesirable, that person can be an unmarriage person. However, the increased number of unmarriage people is more due to economic burdens than changes in values. Many say they choose not to get married because of the heavy burden of housing costs, child rearing, and marriage expenses. Giving birth and daughter-in-law and mother-in-law conflicts are also some of the major reasons for deciding on unmarriage. Also. women do not have the same difficulty in being a success in business as was the case in the past. Nevertheless, many working people are still choosing unmarriage because there are many unsavory cases such as turning married women into non-regular workers and firing pregnant women.

The increase in unmarried people has led to the adoption of the “non-wedding” ceremony. The non-wedding ceremony, like weddings, is a ritual in which people make vows not to marry in front of many people. People want to be recognized by the people around them for their values and collect the congratulatory money they paid at other people’s weddings through the non-marriage ceremony. There have also been companies that provide welfare to unmarriage employees. Cosmetics brand Rush provides employees with the same benefits as employees who get married. Unmarriage people with pets will be supported with congratulatory money and a child-care allowance. Also, people are taking single-person non-wedding photos as well as having a non-wedding ceremony. The non-wedding photos are taken of the single person wearing a wedding dress or a tuxedo, just like at traditional weddings. It’s a practice that is spreading among people who want to remember their beautiful looks. In addition, some people don’t want to marry, but they want to have a baby. Accordingly, they keep frozen human eggs and sperm. This increase of unmarriage is creating a variety of new cultural practices.

Unmarriage does not mean that people want to be alone. They want to spend time with their loved ones, too. However, they do not want a marriage tied to them by law. They say that their choice of unmarriage gives them more time to spend on themselves, and less pressure when it comes to situations in which marriage would have forced them to take on responsibility. Just as the song lyrics “Love is a must, marriage is a choice” say, the value of marriage is changing. We hope everyone’s values will be respected so that society can generally respect unmarriage without considering it strange.

Planning Editor•LEE GAEUN•antonia0504@naver.com

71st Reporter•KIM JIN•coo0714@naver.com