'I'll live with Mom': More Koreans reaching age 50 without ever having married

In South Korea, an increasing number of individuals in their 50s and 60s are living without ever having married, according to recent statistics. As of August, 934,000 men and women in this age group had never tied the knot, representing 11% of the total population in their 50s. This figure has surged three times compared to the 281,000 recorded 10 years ago. Furthermore, among those aged 60 and older, 339,000 people have remained unmarried. The proportion of unmarried individuals in their 40s also stands at 20%.

One woman in her mid-50s, for instance, resides with her elderly mother. The woman was so preoccupied with her career that she delayed marriage, ultimately remaining single well into her 50s. Her mother, now in her 80s, expresses disappointment over her daughter's unmarriage but is content with her daughter's companionship. The mother suffers from limited mobility on one side of her body due to a stroke, but her daughter's support enables her to venture out more frequently.

Without her daughter's assistance, the mother might have had to transition into a long-term care facility.

Interestingly, the woman is not an outlier. In South Korea, 1.27 million unmarried people aged 50 and above currently exist. This trend has witnessed a significant rise over the past decade, with 3.3 times more unmarried individuals in their 50s compared to the 281,000 recorded in 2012.