More than half of men and women of reproductive age who took part in a recent survey say they are indifferent about having children.

A survey of two-thousand-five adults aged 19 to 49 conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs showed that 52-point-six percent of respondents were indifferent to the idea of having children.

Thirty-point-two percent said having children would be better than not having any, while only ten-point-three percent said having children was a must.

Indifference was more prevalent among women and in younger age groups, with this view expressed by 63-point-five percent of women, 54-point-six percent of people aged 19 to 25, and 57-point-two percent of people aged 26 to 29.

Forty-point-five percent of the respondents called for policies to ease economic anxieties that could lead young people to delay or give up on marriage.