1인가구 삶의 만족도 73.5%로 상승…투자·부업도 활발
Life Satisfaction Among Korea's Single-Person Households Rises to 73.5%, With Stocks and Side Jobs on the Rise
Part of the August 3, 2026 daily edition
KB금융그룹 경영연구소는 ’2026 한국 1인가구 보고서’를 발간했다고 지난 7월 19일 밝혔습니다. 보고서에 따르면 1인가구의 현재 삶에 대한 만족도는 73.5%로 2024년 조사보다 2.3%포인트 상승했습니다. 부문별로는 공간·환경이 79.5%로 가장 높았고, 경제력은 51.4%로 가장 낮았습니다. 앞으로도 혼자 살겠다는 응답은 58.3%였으며, 그 이유로는 ’혼자 사는 것이 편하다’는 답변이 61.4%로 가장 많았습니다. 금융자산에서는 예·적금 비중이 28.3%로 2년 전보다 7.8%포인트 줄어든 반면, 주식·ETF 비중은 21.1%로 6.1%포인트 늘었습니다. 본업 외에 추가 소득 활동을 하는 ’N잡’에 참여한다는 응답은 59.6%로, 2022년 조사의 42.0%보다 17.6%포인트 늘었습니다.
Translation
The KB Financial Group Management Research Institute announced on July 19 that it had published the "2026 Korea Single-Person Household Report." According to the report, satisfaction with current life among single-person households stood at 73.5%, up 2.3 percentage points from the 2024 survey. By category, space and environment was the highest at 79.5%, while financial capacity was the lowest at 51.4%. The share who said they would keep living alone in the future was 58.3%, and the most common reason, at 61.4%, was that "living alone is comfortable." In terms of financial assets, the share held in deposits and savings fell 7.8 percentage points from two years earlier to 28.3%, whereas the share in stocks and ETFs rose 6.1 percentage points to 21.1%. The share who said they take part in "N-jobs" — income-earning activities on top of a main job — was 59.6%, up 17.6 percentage points from 42.0% in the 2022 survey.
Vocabulary
- 1인가구명사 (noun)single-person household
- 발간하다동사 (verb)to publish, to issue (a report, book)
- 만족도명사 (noun)level of satisfaction
- 상승하다동사 (verb)to rise, to go up
- 응답명사 (noun)response, answer (in a survey)
- 경제력명사 (noun)financial capacity, economic means
- 금융자산명사 (noun)financial assets
- 비중명사 (noun)share, proportion
- 본업명사 (noun)main job, primary occupation
Grammar points
N에 따르면according to N
Attached to a noun that names a source of information — a report, a survey, a person, an announcement — to say where the following statement comes from. It is standard newspaper Korean, and the sentence that follows usually just states the content, without any extra verb like '말하다'.
Example: 조사 결과에 따르면 혼자 사는 사람이 늘고 있습니다.
According to the survey results, the number of people living alone is increasing.
-(으)며and (formal listing)
A formal written connective that joins two facts of equal weight, like '-고' but more bookish. After a consonant it is '-으며', after a vowel or ㄹ it is '-며'; with 이다 it becomes '-이며' (past '-였으며'). You will see it constantly in reports and news articles where '-고' would sound too conversational.
Example: 도서관은 시설이 넓으며 이용료도 없습니다.
The library has spacious facilities, and there is no admission fee.
-(으)ㄴ/는 반면whereas, while on the other hand
Marks a contrast between two facts: A happens, whereas B is the opposite. Use '-는 반면' for a verb in the present, '-(으)ㄴ 반면' for a completed action or a descriptive verb. Both clauses must be in the sentence, since the point is the comparison itself; the article uses the completed form '줄어든 반면' ('fell, whereas…').
Example: 예금은 줄어든 반면 주식은 늘었습니다.
Deposits fell, whereas stock holdings rose.
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