Young Singles Find Solace in Videos of Marital Bliss

Online videos simulating the real-life joys of married couples are becoming increasingly popular among singles in their 20s and 30s who seem to get vicarious pleasure from witnessing a road not taken.

The videos plunge viewers into situations like the first night of a honeymoon, the peaceful breathing of a sleeping wife, a husband's joyful response to news of his wife's pregnancy and a husband asking his wife to have another child.

"This just shows that young people still want to tie the knot and raise kids, even though an increasing number of Koreans are putting off getting married or having children," says Koo Jeong-woo at Sungkyunkwan University.

Other statistics support this view that many singles are not alone by choice but simply feel they could not afford marriage. A 2017 survey by the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education of 1,073 singles aged 20 to 39 showed that only one in four do not want to get married.

And when asked why, 48.5 percent of those blamed their low income while only 45.6 percent said they are comfortable living alone.

There were a mere 257,622 marriages in 2018, the fewest since 1972, when the population was smaller, and the number of marriages per 1,000 people stood at just five, the lowest on record.