Why I am not (and cannot get) married

[lotustea]

While the government is desperately campaigning to encourage women to have more children, the average age of marriage for women in Korea hit 30. As an unmarried single 30-year-old myself, I can attest that Korea is not the most attractive place to get married and have kids. High inflation, rock-bottom job security, long work hours that often extend

Comments

[mos_nhymp]

Ugh. A conservative party leader in Estonia recently came out with this statement: "a 27 year old childless woman is harmful to the society." And according to March polls about 19% of Estonians support this party.

"Facepalm."

[lotustea]

That is astonishing. We always think European countries are much better on the gender equality front. Idiocy is universal, I guess. :(

[mos_nhymp]

There is no escape from idiocy anywhere in the world, at least that's what I've become to suspect.
I suppose that you are right about gender equality front being better in Europe, at least in some aspects, though. From what little I know of how hard it is to be a working mom in Korea, for example. Or stay at home dad, god forbid. The division of cooking/housework duty is also not as strict - the example of men saying outright that they never intend to even enter the kitchen, would sound way more outrageous over here. Nevertheless, a sad fact remains, that on average Estonia women still spend hours more on children and housework each day than men...

[lotustea]

I am surprised, because the idea I got was that a former communist country tends to be a lot more gender-equal (as China is, here in northeast Asia) and Estonia is a part of Europe as well. I guess women doing more housework and childrearing is a universal fact. :(

Things are pretty bad in Korea. I used to feel that it was exaggerated, but once I set my foot inside the marriage market and faced the reality, I wasn't sure if I would like to get married here for the sake of completing my life's milestone and thus start my eternal fight against my potential mom-in-law hahaha. Lots of women are electing not to get married at all, and there's a talk of communal housing for single women. Perhaps I should look for altenatives.

[badlywritten]

i'm not sure why you think it's any different in the western world, the pressures are the same, as are the responsibilities, perceived or otherwise.

in fact i look to korea and think it'd be a nice break from the ridiculous housing and living costs of sydney.

[lotustea]

I'm focusing more on the gender issues here. The expectation and testimonials are that the western guys tend to be much more cooperative when it comes to doing housework and taking care of children. I do know pressure to work long hours and survive in the competition exist in other countries as well. But you don't really feel compelled to get married when your date says, "In my family guys never set foot inside the kitchen. I hope you are a good cook!" and you realize he isn't joking. Ugh, really romantic.

I've never lived in Sydney, obviously. People fantasize about Australia here. How's the wage level?