One out of five unmarried women and one out of seven unmarried men in South Korea say they have no plans to have children in the future.

That is according to a survey of four groups of 500 married and unmarried men and women aged 20 to 44 from October 23 and November 13 last year by the nonprofit Korea Population Health and Welfare Association.

89-point-nine percent of respondents cited relationship stability as a positive value of marriage, followed by 89 percent that said overall happiness, and 78-point-five percent, mentioning social stability.

The average number of children the respondents hoped to have were one-point-79 among married men, one-point-71 among married women, one-point-63 among unmarried men and one-point-43 among unmarried women.

The percentage of those not wishing to have children was the highest among unmarried women at 21-point-three percent, compared to 13-point-seven percent among unmarried men, six-point-five percent among married women and five-point-one percent among married men.

Asked about the cost of raising a child and the environment for child rearing, 96 percent of all respondents said raising children is costly, while 88-point-eight percent said they were concerned about the future their children would face.