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Nearly half of Korean adults of childbearing age believe it is acceptable to go through life without having children, according to a report released Friday.

The findings revealed that the preference for a childless lifestyle was more prevalent among women, particularly those in their 20s, and nonregular workers with unstable employment.

The report was presented at the Population Forum held in Seoul on Friday, organized by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA). The event focused on the theme, "Results of Public Perception on Low Birth and Aging Society: Focusing on Marriage, Childbirth and Generational Values." The survey, conducted by KIHASA, gathered responses from 4,000 men and women aged 19 to 79 nationwide between Nov. 3 and Dec. 6.

The results showed that more than half, or 52.6 percent of the respondents, said they wouldn't mind not having children, while only 30.2 percent said having children is better than having none; and 10.3 percent said they must have one.

The number of women who answered they wouldn't mind living without children was 63.5 percent, higher than that of men's 41.2 percent.

All in all, the negative attitude toward childbirth was found to be more common among women in their 20s, and the lower income group.

Even if they had a spouse, 69.3 percent felt negatively about additional birth plans. Among them, 36.2 percent of them did not have any children. Only 19.2 percent said they would give birth, while 11.5 percent said they did not know.

As for the reasons for not having plans to give birth, "age" topped the list with 20.5 percent, followed by "child care expenses" (18.2 percent), "economic conditions" (16 percent) and "because I am not confident in playing the role of parents" (10.3 percent).

As for the conditions of childbirth, "sufficient income" scored the highest at 3.41 out of 4, followed by "stable and safe housing" (3.39 points), "free use of parental leave," "activation of the work-family balance system" (3.35 points) and "securing sufficient parental time" (3.33 points).

"Economic conditions such as jobs, housing expenses and child support negatively affect marriage and childbirth," Kim Eun-jung, an associate researcher at the KIHASA, said. "It is important to create good jobs, stabilize housing costs and ease the burden of child support costs such as private education costs."