It’s no secret young South Koreans are increasingly shunning marriage and parenthood – the country’s steeply falling birth rate is clear evidence of that.

韩国年轻人日益回避结婚生子问题，早已不足为奇，韩国出生率的急剧下降最能直接证明这一点。

But a new government report underlines how drastically that trend has accelerated over the past decade, spelling demographic trouble for the aging nation in the years ahead.

但一份新的政府报告强调，在过去的十年中，这一趋势急剧加快，给日益老龄化的韩国带来了麻烦。

The report, which surveys residents between the ages of 19 and 34 every two years, was released Monday by the official Statistics Korea. It found just 36.4% respondents polled last year said they had a positive perception of marriage – down from 56.5% in 2012.

这份报告由韩国官方统计局于周一发布，每两年对19至34岁的居民进行一次调查。报告发现，去年仅有36.4%的受访者对婚姻持积极看法，低于2012年的56.5%。

The fall reflects the growing pressures on young South Koreans, including economic concerns such as unaffordable housing and rising costs of living. Common reasons cited in the report for young people not getting married include not having enough money for marriage, and the feeling it’s simply not necessary.

这一下降反映出韩国年轻人面临着越来越大的压力，其中包括经济问题，如负担不起的住房和不断上涨的生活成本。报告中提到的年轻人不结婚的常见原因包括结婚资金不足，以及觉得结婚没有必要。

And among the third of respondents with a positive perception of marriage, results skew heavily toward men – with just 28% of women responding positively.

有三分之一的受访者对婚姻持积极态度，其中男性占了很大比例，而女性只占了28%。

There could be various reasons for this; multiple South Korean women told CNN in 2019 they had safety concerns when it comes to dating, exacerbated by high-profile news stories about sex crimes, voyeurism and gender discrimination.

造成这一现象的原因可能有多种；2019 年，多名韩国女性告诉美国有线电视新闻网，她们在约会时有安全顾虑，而有关性犯罪、窥淫癖和性别歧视的新闻报道加剧了女性的这种顾虑。

Women’s advancements in education and the workplace also mean the “opportunity cost of marriage” is much higher for women now than in previous generations; by getting married, they may have to compromise on their career or education, especially given entrenched gender norms and difficulties re-entering work after childbirth, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

据经济合作与发展组织的数据，女性在教育和职场方面的进步也意味着现在女性的“婚姻机会成本”要比上一代高得多；结婚意味着她们可能不得不在事业或教育方面做出让步，尤其是韩国社会根深蒂固的性别规范以及育后再就业的困难。

That means many educated women with steady jobs are instead postponing marriage and parenthood. There’s even a word, “bihon,” that refers to women who choose to forgo marriage.

这意味着许多受过教育、有稳定工作的女性反而推迟了结婚和生育。甚至有一个词“bihon”就是指那些选择放弃婚姻的女性。

Attitudes among respondents toward childbirth are similarly dismissive, the Statistics Korea report found. Of those surveyed last year, more than half said they didn’t see the need to have a child, even after marriage – a rate that has been steadily rising since 2018.

韩国统计局的报告发现，受访者对生育的态度同样不屑一顾。在去年的受访者中，超过一半的人表示即使结婚后也不认为有必要生孩子，这一比例自2018年以来一直在稳步上升。

But in a shift from South Korea’s typically conservative views, the idea of single parenting is gaining popularity. Nearly 40% of respondents said they could have a child without marriage, a departure from traditional norms in the country.

但与韩国典型的保守观念不同的是，单亲家庭的观念越来越受欢迎。近40%的受访者表示，他们可以不结婚就生一个孩子，这与韩国的传统规范大相径庭。

While having a baby is very much expected of married couples in South Korea, much of society still frowns on single parents. IVF treatment is not offered to single women, official hospital figures show. Meanwhile, couples in non-traditional partnerships also face discrimination; South Korea does not recognize same-sex marriage and regulations make it difficult for unwed couples to adopt.

在韩国，人们对已婚夫妇生儿育女寄予厚望，但社会上很多人仍然对单亲父母嗤之以鼻。官方医院数据显示，韩国不向单身女性提供试管婴儿治疗。同时，非传统伴侣关系的夫妇也面临歧视；韩国不承认同性婚姻，相关法规也使未婚夫妇很难收养孩子。

But experts say authorities may need to change these attitudes, and fast, if they are to pull the country back from its looming demographic crisis.

但专家们表示，如果韩国要解决人口危机问题，可能需要迅速改变这些态度。

Efforts to fix the problem so far have proved largely ineffective. The government has spent more than $200 billion over the past 16 years to encourage more people to have children, with little to show for it.

迄今为止，韩国政府为解决这一问题付出了很多努力，但这些最后在很大程度上都成了无用功。在过去的16年里，政府为鼓励更多人生育子女花费了两千多亿美元，但收效甚微。

材料来源：CNN

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