- Income thresholds for public rental housing to be drastically expanded, with interest rate premiums on loan programs slashed.

The South Korean government has announced a sweeping regulatory overhaul aimed at dismantling institutional barriers that inadvertently penalize young individuals who choose to marry. By radically easing income eligibility requirements for public housing, reducing interest rate burdens on state-backed loans, and expanding tax benefits, the state plans to transform marriage from a financial liability into a tangible benefit.

According to data released by relevant ministries on June 9, the socio-economic phenomenon of avoiding or delaying marriage has reached unprecedented levels over the past decade. The proportion of unmarried individuals in their 30s soared dramatically between 2015 and 2024, jumping from 44.2% to 62% for men, and from 28.1% to 44% for women. Concurrently, the percentage of couples who delayed their official marriage registration for more than a year after tying the knot nearly doubled, rising from 10.9% to 19.0%.

Experts point out that this "marriage-delaying" trend is driven by institutional loopholes. Under previous guidelines, when two single earners combined their incomes upon legal marriage, their joint income frequently exceeded the strict thresholds required to qualify for affordable public housing, favorable policy-rate loans, or high-yield youth savings products.

To address these core issues, the government will dramatically raise the income criteria for newlywed public rental housing to double that of single-person households. The monthly income cap for dual-income newlyweds applying for Happy Housing (Haengbok Jutek) will be expanded from 7.63 million won to 9.39 million won. Similarly, the threshold for Integrated Public Rental Housing will be raised from 7.98 million won to 9.24 million won. Furthermore, single youths currently residing in public rentals who face eviction due to exceeding income caps after marriage will now be granted a one-time lease renewal exception.

Financial relief will also be extended to various credit and savings programs. The additional interest rate premium imposed on the Budeommok Jeonse (charter-deposit) loan program post-marriage will be halved from 0.3 percentage points to 0.15 percentage points. In addition, the maximum joint income ceiling for the popular Youth Future Savings Account will be adjusted upward. For a two-person household, the annual income limit for the standard plan will be pushed from 94.32 million won to 117.90 million won, effectively preventing middle-class newlyweds from being disqualified.

Tax deductions and welfare benefits are being reorganized as well. The government is reviewing a plan to extend the 40% income tax deduction for jeonse loan principal repayments to spouses who must live separately due to corporate relocations or weekend commuting. Additionally, the current fuel tax rebate system for compact cars, which completely disqualified couples if they owned two compact vehicles post-marriage, will be amended to ensure that at least one vehicle per household remains eligible for the annual 300,000 won rebate.

"The core philosophy behind this policy shift is to ensure that entering a marriage never translates into a socio-economic disadvantage," a ministry official noted. With these structural adjustments, the government aims to alleviate the financial anxiety of the younger demographic and fundamentally reverse the declining marriage and birth rates.