Roughly four in ten respondents in their twenties and thirties were in favor of living with their future wife’s family, according to a survey conducted on 504 unmarried men by DUO, a matchmaking agency.

Those who opposed the notion amounted to slightly less at 37.5 percent. Discerned by age, more men in their twenties would cohabit with their wife’s relatives (46.7 percent of respondents), compared to those in their thirties (34.6 percent).

In the survey, 34.3 percent of the men would support their wife because they believed it was a daughter’s duty to take care of her parents, while 22.2 percent would do so for their wife's convenience. A significant number, 15.5 percent, said it would lessen the burden of raising children, and 15 percent answered that sharing the household in this way would reduce living expenses.

On the issue of living expenses, 41.7 percent would make a decision after confering with their bride, and 29.2 percent planned to engage first in inter-family negotiations to split the bills. Less than one-fifth, or 16.9 percent, would donate an “adequate amount” depending on the situation, while 11.3 percent said their budget would be restricted to the couple's spending only.

Meanwhile, 37 percent of those men who preferred not to inhabit the same house as their wife's family said they would feel uncomfortable dealing with hidden or exposed family tensions.

Fractionally less than 20 percent said they were not in favor of matrilocal living because it is looked down on by society, and 19 percent would rather support their own parents. A considerable number of men, 15.9 percent, felt such a move would insult their pride, while 5.8 percent feared losing face in front of their children.

(Shin Eun-jin, momof@chosun.com )