An overwhelming majority of Seoul's younger residents share concerns over gender-based discrimination, a survey by a women's rights foundation revealed Sunday.
The survey by the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family was conducted online on May 11-29 with 2,647 people aged 19-34.
Some 40.3 percent of respondents said they were aware of structural disadvantages against women and believed there is substantial discrimination between women and men.
Another 29.9 percent said they were aware of discrimination against women, but thought there should be gender-neutral fairness, and that there was also discrimination against men.
About 14.5 percent of respondents were highly aware of discrimination against women and were against unfair treatment for men. Those who said men were discriminated against, but not women, accounted for 6.4 percent.
A similar proportion of both genders said they felt pressure concerning traditional gender roles -- 34.5 percent for men and 34.7 percent for women.
When the 2,331 unmarried respondents were asked what they thought of marriage, only 43.4 percent of men and 35.5 percent of women said they wanted to get married. The rest were either unsure or held negative views.
Some 25.6 percent of women said they did not wish to get married, which was double the proportion for men (12.8 percent). Respondents' most cited answer was that they do not feel the need to, at 51.8 percent for women and 38.9 percent for men. About 23.9 percent of men and 14.7 percent of women said that was because of the financial burden of marriage.
Far more women than men said they did not want to have children, at 32.3 percent for women and 16 percent for men. The financial cost was the leading factor — 47.2 percent for men and 28.8 percent for women — as another 20.7 percent of women and 16.9 percent of men said they did not feel like they could be good parents.
About 19.9 percent of women and 14 percent of men said that they did not want to get tied down by children.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
