According to Kim Yoo-kyung, a researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, one and two-person households accounted for 48.2 percent of the country's total households in 2010, compared with 22.8 percent tallied in 1990.
Households with 4-5 people, on the other hand, nearly halved from 58.2 percent to 30.6 percent during the 20-year period, Kim said in a report.
In 2010, one-person households constituted 23.9 percent of the total, compared with 9 percent in 1990. The comparable figure stood at 24.3 percent for households with two people (13.8 percent in 1990), 21.3 percent for three-person households (19.1 percent), 22.5 percent for households with four people (29.5 percent) and 8.1 percent for five-person households (28.7 percent).
The researcher attributed the changing household structure to the rise of individualism, aging population, low birthrate, late marriage and an increase in the divorce rate.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
