What Makes the Perfect Potential Spouse?

What is the portrait of the ideal spouse for young, single women? He earns over W30 million a year, has assets of W100 million to W150 million and a four-year university degree, works as a civil servant or for a public corporation, and is 175 cm to 180 cm tall (US$1=W1,184).

These are the findings of a nationwide survey of 975 singles -- 503 men and 472 women -- aged between 20 and 39 on their perceptions about marriage. It was conducted from Oct. 20 to Nov. 9 by matchmaking company Duo and a research team led by Prof. Choi In-cheol of Seoul National University.

When asked how much they expected their ideal husband to earn, the largest group of women, 140 or 29.7 percent, said between W30 million and W40 million per year, while 199 or 25.2 percent said between W40 million and W50 million, and 13.3 percent or 63 chose more than W60 million.

On the other hand, 173 men or 34.4 percent wanted their ideal wife to earn W20 million to W30 million a year, while 170 or 33.8 percent said the amount wasn't important, and 93 or 18.5 percent said between W30 million to W40 million.

As for the ideal occupation of the spouse, civil servant and public corporation worker came in first among both men (14.34 percent) and women (15.79 percent) for a third year in a row.

Other jobs suitable for marriageable husbands were banker (9.46 percent), accountant (7.06 percent), and businessman (6.82 percent). For the wife, teacher was the second most popular occupation, chosen by 14.01 percent of male respondents, followed by white-collar worker (9.18 percent), freelancer (6.57 percent), and banker (6.23 percent).

Most men and women considered a difference of three or four years as the ideal age gap for a couple. Some 42 percent of men preferred women who are three to four years younger than them, and 35.8 percent of women preferred men who are three to four years older. However, the older respondents were, the larger age gap men wanted, while women preferred a smaller gap.

Personality was cited as the most important factor when considering a potential spouse by both men (30.4 percent) and women (29.1 percent). But in second place the genders held different opinions, with 20.5 percent of men choosing appearance, and 23.1 percent of women saying financial status.

"If you are picky about choosing a spouse, the man or woman you want will also likely be picky about their partner," said Duo CEO Kim Hye-jung. "My advice is to be flexible and wise in setting criteria for an ideal spouse."