More women in Korea take into consideration a potential partner’s financial capability than men when they choose a spouse, a recent survey showed Wednesday.

According to research from the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, which surveyed 1,140 unmarried men and 1,324 unmarried women aged between 20 and 44 , 92.7 percent of female respondents answered that they think of the partner’s financial capability as an essential factor in selecting a spouse, while 53 percent of male respondents said the same.

Men counted the partner’s personality as the most important factor, followed by health, attitude toward housework and parenting, understanding one another’s career and sharing interests.

Women also said personality matters most when selecting a spouse, followed by attitude toward housework and parenting, health, understanding careers and financial capability.

About 87.1 percent of women identified a partner’s job as a critical factor, while 49.9 percent of men answered the same.

About 75 percent of men and 89.8 percent of women counted the other’s family background as important, while 31 percent of men and 55 percent of women said the academic background matters.

Asked about the necessity of marriage, 14.1 percent of male respondents said it’s a must, while 39.2 percent answered it doesn’t matter and 6.6 percent said it’s better not to be married.

The percentage of female respondents who answered positively on the question marked 28.8 percent, while about 14.3 percent of women said “it’s better not to be married.”

By Park Ju-young (jupark@heraldcorp.com)