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Economic troubles are the main reason for divorce in Korea, accounting for 14 percent of divorced couples, seven times the percentage 10 years ago.
According to the ¡°2003 South Korea Social Index¡± released Sunday by the National Statistical Office (NSO), 145,000 couples got divorced in 2003, 10,000 more than last year¡¯s 135,000 couples.
Kwon Oh-sul of the NSO¡¯s Social Statistics Division said that 13.7 percent of the divorced couples said that economic problems were the main reason they divorced. The figure is seven times that of 1992, when economic troubles caused only 1.9 percent of the country¡¯s divorces.
The income gap between education levels is getting smaller. Income for high school graduates was also increasing. Using the income of a high school graduate as a base of 100 points, the income of college graduates was 153.8, while in 1999, the ratio between high school graduates and college graduates was 100 to 159.5. Early retirement and a changing work environment that values ability rather than education is the reason for the change, the NSO said.
More job seekers are putting income before job security. For job seekers over 15 years old, 34.4 percent placed priority on security, compared to 41.5 percent in 1998. On the other hand, 21.5 percent said income is their top concern when choosing a job, while only 18.2 percent said so in 1998.
(Park Yong-keun, ykpark@chosun.com )
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