The city of Seoul said Monday it will open an online forum to discuss the current needs of unmarried women living alone in Seoul in an effort to provide support for such single-female households, which make up more than 10 percent of the total number of households in the city.

"Most policies today are centered on assisting women from conventional family systems who give birth to and raise children, and this excludes single women from receiving benefits that they really need," said Assistant Mayor Cho Hyeon-ok of Seoul's Women & Family Affairs department.

According to government officials, 450,000 households in Seoul have single women living alone, accounting for 12.6 percent of the capital's 3.58 million households.

The Seoul municipal government said it will hold a 60-minute online debate on Tuesday afternoon to talk about possible policies to improve single women's quality of life.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon will take part in the online debate, which will be open to the public, and citizens are free to join in via the city's Web site as well as through Twitter and other online discussion boards.

In a survey of 570 single women between the ages of 25 and 49 who live alone, most cited rising housing costs and crimes such as sexual violence as primary concerns while living on their own.

The survey also indicated such women have difficulty managing their health, as the rate of women who smoke and drink was relatively high at 22.7 percent and 69.6 percent, respectively. (Yonhap News)