More than half of married South Korean women said that having a child is not a must in their married lives, a survey showed Sunday, an indication that the
importance of children in marriage is fading in South Korean society.
   
The survey, released in a report by a researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, showed that 53.5 percent of some 4,500 married women responded that havinga child is not a must, though it's better to have one, while 46.3 percent think otherwise.
   
It is the first time in such surveys so far that the ratio of respondents who see children as an indispensable element of marriage has dropped below 50 percent. The corresponding ratios in previous surveys were 54.5 percent in 2003, 53.8 percent in 2006 and 55.9 percent in 2009.
   
The latest survey also showed that the traditional favoring of sons over daughters is also fading, with 58.3 percent saying they don't care about having a son and 33 percent saying it's better to have a son. Only 8.2 percent responded that having a son is a must. (Yonhap News)