• Journal of Family Relations
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.3-25
• /
• 2017

Objectives: We examined which socioeconomic and intergenerational characteristics were associated with the level of intention to marry among Korean men and women in young adulthood. Method: Data came from 351 men and 391 women who were 25-34 years old, had never been married, and had at least one living parent. We conducted multiple regression analyses by gender after controlling for age and current romantic relationship. Results: Among the socioeconomic characteristics, more years of education was linked to both men's and women's higher levels of intention to marry. For women, having a secure, full-time job was related to greater intention to marry. For men, the higher their subjective socioeconomic status, the greater their intention to marry. Among intergenerational characteristics, both men's and women's positive attitudes toward supporting elderly parents were related to a higher level of intention to marry. For men, the frequency of providing instrumental support for their parents was negatively associated with the men's intention to marry. For women, higher levels of agreement with parents' responsibility to support their adult children as well as greater affection for their parents were positively related to greater intention to marry. Conclusions: The findings suggest that young adults' socioeconomic resources and the family context are important predictors of young adults' marital intentions. The results also reveal gender differences in the factors associated with young adults' marital intentions.

• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.31-51
• /
• 2010

This study investigates changes in family values (attitudes toward marriage, children, and traditional sex roles) and examines how the values influence on their intentions of marriage and expected age at first marriage. A sample consists of 5,984 never married men and women drawn from the 2005 and 2009 National Marriage and Fertility Study. The results show that the endorsement on marriage and children has decreased while endorsement on traditional sex role attitude has increased over the past five years. Those who have higher values on marriage, children, and traditional sex role have a higher likelihood of marriage intention. However, the effects of the family values on marriage intention have weakened during the period. The endorsement on marriage lowers the mean ages of the expected first marriage. Comparing the effects of the family values during the period, this study find that normative aspects of the family values have lower effects, whereas individual aspects of the values have stronger effects over time. These findings suggest that the effects of family values vary across sex, time, and the aspect of the values.