One in five middle-aged residents of Seoul is unmarried, according to a new city report, with the proportion rising steadily over the past three years.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government released a report titled "Life of Middle-Aged Single Residents in Seoul," Thursday, drawing on data from the Seoul Survey and the National Data Agency. Of Seoul's approximately 2.74 million residents between the ages of 40 and 59, some 560,000 — or 20.5 percent — are unmarried, up from 18.3 percent in 2022 and 19.4 percent in 2023. The unmarried rate was higher among men (24.1 percent) than women (16.9 percent).
The household structure of this demographic has shifted dramatically. Middle-aged residents living in single-person households rose from 61.3 percent in 2015 to 80.5 percent in 2025, while multi-generational households — those living with parents or other family members — fell by roughly half, from 33.5 percent to 17.7 percent over the same period.
The trend toward independent living was especially pronounced among higher-income groups, as the share of managerial and professional white-collar workers living alone rose from 53.9 percent in 2015 to 66.9 percent in 2025, outpacing other occupational groups.
Income emerged as a key dividing line in quality of life. Life satisfaction, work-life balance and happiness scores all increased with monthly income, while reported loneliness decreased. Unmarried middle-aged residents in managerial and professional occupations also reported the highest rates of active leisure participation — including cultural activities, sports and tourism — on both weekdays and weekends.
Social connectedness, however, remained a relative weakness. These households scored 3.4 out of 10 on a sense of community belonging, compared with 4.3 for married households. The score was lowest among unmarried men in their 40s living alone, at 3.0. Group activity participation rates were also lower among single-person households (76.2 percent) than among married households with children (83.3 percent).
The city said it plans to develop tailored support measures for the growing unmarried middle-aged population and expand programs targeting loneliness and social isolation. Existing initiatives include Seoul Mind Convenience Stores — now operating at 19 locations and serving around 80,000 visitors since opening in March last year — a 24-hour loneliness counseling hotline, and hospital accompaniment and welfare-check services for single-person households.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
Source: Korea Times News
