Young people are flocking to the Capital Region, with lower childbirth and homeownership rates than in non-metropolitan areas

[Financial News]  The concentration of young people in the Capital Region is deepening. Even after marriage, many are moving to the Capital Region in search of regular wage jobs or housing. However, young people who settled outside Seoul and Gyeonggi Province showed relatively higher rates of childbirth and homeownership than those who settled in the Capital Region. The trend appears to reflect changing views on marriage and childbirth, rising real estate prices and an absolute shortage of housing in the Capital Region, as well as a decline in quality jobs.
On the 16th, the National Data Office announced the results of a comprehensive analysis of young adults' post-marriage moves, employment, childbirth and homeownership using population dynamics panel statistics. The panel covers people born between 1984 and 1991 who married at age 32 for men and 31 for women.
The analysis found that young people who remained in the area where they lived before marriage were more likely to have children or own homes than those who moved after marriage. Among them, those who settled in or moved to non-metropolitan areas showed relatively higher rates of childbirth and homeownership.
One particularly notable finding was that employment patterns among young people who moved after marriage differed by gender and by destination.
The share of women in regular employment after marriage fell by 14.3 percentage points from before marriage, while the figure for men rose by 0.5 percentage points.
The share of regular workers also varied. For men, moving to the Capital Region after marriage increased the share of regular employment. By contrast, the share declined for men who moved to non-metropolitan areas.
For women, the share of regular employment fell after marriage regardless of where they moved. The decline was larger for those who moved to non-metropolitan areas, at 27.1 percentage points, than for those who moved to the Capital Region, at 17.2 percentage points.
This suggests that women have a harder time finding regular wage jobs, whether in the Capital Region or outside it.
After marriage, six out of 10 young people, or 57.1%, moved to a different city, county or district.
Their new homes were concentrated in the Capital Region.
Among those who moved, 61.6% relocated to the Capital Region, and 54.9% of them moved within the region. Only 6.7% moved from non-metropolitan areas into the Capital Region.
Moves to non-metropolitan areas accounted for 38.4%, with 32.9% moving within those areas. Only 5.5% moved from the Capital Region to non-metropolitan areas.
After marriage, the share of residence increased the most in Gyeonggi Province, up 3.2 percentage points, while Seoul saw the largest decline, down 2.6 percentage points. The drop in Seoul is attributed to higher costs and a shortage of supply driven by rising apartment prices.
Kim Seoyoung, director of the Social Statistics Planning Division at the National Data Office, said, "Young people are moving within their existing living areas after marriage rather than relocating to a new region." She added, "In particular, we have confirmed that the tendency to settle in the Capital Region is strengthening."
This is the first analysis by the National Data Office using population dynamics panel statistics. The agency said the study is meaningful because it provides basic data for responding to low birth rates and regional decline.
The National Data Office plans to link new data, including personal debt information, to conduct a more comprehensive analysis of young people's movement, settlement and family formation, and to support data-driven population and regional policy making.

skjung@fnnews.com Jung Sang-gyun Reporter