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By Jung Da-min
A third of households in Seoul are single-person ones, according to a biennial report on living conditions by the Seoul Metropolitan Government released Thursday.
The 2020 report conducted on 4,041 households (9,472 people) in the capital revealed that 33.3 percent of all households were single-person. This accounted for the largest portion, followed by two-member households at 25.8 percent, three-member ones at 20.6 percent and four-member ones at 19.2 percent.
In particular, 41.2 percent of the single-person households were young people aged between 19 and 34, followed by 22.6 percent who were elderly aged 65 or over.
Almost half, or 48.6 percent, said they were living alone to be near their workplace or school. About 31.3 percent said they live alone after being divorced, separated or bereaved.
Their satisfaction level about living alone differed by age groups: about 71 percent of young single-people said they were happy living alone, but only 41.5 percent of those who were middle-aged and 43.7 percent of the elderly said so.
As to difficulties of living alone, 42.1 percent of young people cited emergency situations, while those in the middle-aged group picked loneliness and the elderly, economic hardship.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government is planning to use the data to establish support policies for single-person households in the city. It launched a special taskforce to support single-person households April 19, and the team will become a regular unit of the city government next month.
