Most Koreans don't know how much spouse earns

More than half of married people in their 30s and 40s are unsure how much their spouses earn, a study suggests.

Samsung Life published a survey last Thursday showing that 62 percent of husbands and 51 percent of wives do not know how much their spouse makes. The survey was conducted on 200 couples aged 30 to 40.

Husbands tended to believe that their wives earn less than they actually do with 46 percent, but only 15 percent of husbands overestimated the amount. Among the women, 27 percent thought their husbands make less than they actually do and 24 percent thought more.

Men with high-income wives tended to be less aware of the exact figure. When the wife's monthly income surpassed W3 million, only 25 percent of husbands knew exactly how much (US$1=W1,135). But when the wife's monthly income was lower than W1 million, 67 percent knew the exact figure.

Wives with husbands who earn a median income were relatively more aware of how much their spouse made.

Fifty-six percent of women whose husbands make between W2 million to W3 million a month knew the exact figure, dropping to 53 percent if the husbands make W3-4 million, to 42 percent if husbands make more than W4 million and to 33 percent if they make less than W2 million.

When it comes to total household wealth, 90 percent of husbands and 89 percent of wives were aware of the exact value. But only 37 percent of couples knew the exact value of their household wealth. Twenty percent of couples overestimated the value of their assets by more than W100 million.

"For successful financial planning, couples need to communicate regularly and assess their earnings and debt repayment schedules," said Lim Ha-na, a senior researcher at Samsung Life.

(THE CHOSUNILBO)