[KS] Senior Divorces Surge in 2006

Cedar Bough Saeji umyang at gmail.com
Wed Apr 18 11:49:13 EDT 2007


*An article from the Korea Times, for everyone who likes the latest social
statistics.*







04-18-2007 19:15
 <javascript:fontPlus()> <javascript:fontMinus()>
<javascript:goPrint()> *Senior
Divorces Surge in 2006*

A growing number of married couples are going their separate ways later in
life as Korean women have become more financially independent and command
higher social status. However, the number of overall divorce cases dropped
last year.


By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter

A growing number of married couples are going their separate ways later in
life as Korean women have become more financially independent and command
higher social status. However, the number of overall divorce cases dropped
last year.

With more Koreans tying the knot with foreigners, marriages of Koreans to
foreigners are also increasingly ending in divorce.

According to the National Statistical Office (NSO) yesterday, the number of
divorce cases totaled 125,000 last year, down 2.7 percent from 128,000 a
year earlier, as the number of married couples dropped.

The crude divorce rate, which is the recorded number of divorces per 1,000
persons, stood at 2.6 cases, unchanged from 2005.

However, the number of older couples filing for divorce increased last year
in line with the rising economic and social status of Korean women. The
number of divorces involving males aged over 55 rose 7.8 percent to 12,900
last year while divorces among older females jumped 14.3 percent to 6,800.

``Many Korean women had to stay in a marriage in the past even if they
wanted to divorce because men had all the financial means. But more
middle-aged married women are filing for divorce as their financial and
social status have continued to improve over the years,'' an NSO official
said.

The average age of male divorcees was 42.6 in 2006, up from 38.6 in 1996.
The average age of divorced females was 39.3, up from 34.8 over the 10-year
period. The average length of time people lived together before divorce
totaled 11.4 years.

Divorces by married couples who had been together for more than 20 years
accounted for 19.2 percent of the total last year, up from 18.7 percent the
previous year. Also, couples married less than four years made up
26.5percent of the total divorces, up from
25.9 percent.

In the meantime, 6,280 Koreans divorced their foreign spouses last year, up
46.8 percent from 4,278 a year earlier. The figure accounted for 5 percent
of last year's total divorces, up from 3.3 percent.

Divorces between Korean men and their foreign wives increased 64.1 percent
to 4,010, while those involving Korean women and their non-Korean husbands
came to 2,270, up 23.8 percent from a year ago.

leehs at koreatimes.co.kr





-----------------------------------
Soon to be a PhD student in UCLA's Dept. of World Arts and Cultures!
http://www.cedarsphotography.com
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