Article from Yonhap News:
Study Shows Korean Women Only Happy in First Two Years of Marriage
A study has shown that Korean women’s level of happiness decreases after 2 years of marriage to the same level they experience before marriage.
On April 2, according to a paper by two researchers from Korea University: Professor Robert Rudolph from the International Department, and Professor Kang Seong-jin from the Economics Department, women’s level of satisfaction with marriage disappears after two years,
Professor Rudolph’s team used information from the Korea Labor Panel for their study, including data on 1000 people’s perceptions of their first marriage before and after getting married, and data from 200 people before and after getting divorced.
In the first year of marriage, couples reach their maximum level of satisfaction, with men’e levels increasing 0.3 points, and women’s levels increasing by 0.25 points.
The study shows that for women, this increase drops back to pre-marriage levels two years after being married, while for men, their satisfaction levels stay at 0.15~0.2 points above their pre-marriage rates throughout marriage.
Additionally, for couples who are divorced, or where one partner is deceased, compared to women, men’s levels of happiness drop swiftly, and it is not as easy for them to recover from the loss.
Professor Rudolph said, “For Korean couples, they are not able to equally divide the gains of marriage, meaning they have a high level of gender inequality.” “In contrast, our study shows that couples in England and Germany were able to equally divide the gains of marriage.”
This study was published in January’s edition of the “Feminist Economice.”
Comments from Naver:
aaja****
Rather than the right man, it’s important for women to meet the right in-laws. Before marriage, if you don’t like your in-laws, it’s better not to get married.
prim****
In just a little bit, this will become a battlefield [between male and female netizens arguing with each other].
rjae****
Whether you’re a woman or a man, if you think you will not be happy getting married, then don’t. You’ll make things difficult for each other.
mins****
In reality, no matter how you try to divide the household work between husband and wife after marriage, the wife will end up getting involved with all of it. I don’t like cleaning up after others…As a woman, this would be the end for me, and I would have to sacrifice everything for my family…the conclusion is that I will remain single. I need to make a lot of money.
wlsd****
It’s more of a benefit not to get married.
gise****
You have to pay back loans together….Even if both are working, the wife has to take care of the birth and childcare. She has to go to the in-laws for ancestral rites and holidays… If her parents are rich and she spends lots of money, [her in-laws] will say sh*t about it. If her family is poor, they will say she is uneducated. If she is competent, they will say the husband is intimidated. If she leans on the man, they will say she is not good enough for their son…kekekekeke I would never try to win their heart.
tini****
I am five years into marriage. I want to live with my mom.
minj****
Just seeing my mom..ke she graduated from college, and left her good job as a high school teacher to have me and my young sibling. She doesn’t get any praise for doing household chores, or any money, and just labors on day after day. She doesn’t have self-esteem. Recently, she said her life was ruined. As I grew up seeing mom like that, I don’t have an inch of illusions about marriage at all
see0****
Women lose the most when it comes to marriage. It’s a difficult road to walk. Think carefully before you make the decision.
hong****
Live by yourself. You won’t be happy getting married, it just makes things more difficult.
tmdq****
Taking care of your husband, your kids, your in-laws~ there is no more respect for yourself. sad~~
evek****
The reality of marriage…make food, take care of kids, clean up, make food, take care of kids, clean up, and then make..
