Single parents in South Korea
What is a single-parent family?
Definition
Single-parent family refers to a family consisting of a single parent and a child who is in charge of the role of a parent by raising a child alone for reasons such as death, divorce, separation, abandonment, or unmarried mother.[1] At first, this type of family was called single-parent family, but because of the negative meaning of vocabulary, they are called single-parent families.[2] The term "single-parent family" is a mixture of pure Korean words "한(single)" "부모(parent)" and "family." Here, "한" means "big," "full," and "whole," rather than one(1), meaning that a single parent family is as healthy and happy as any other family.[3]
Type of single-parent family
Divided into divorced families, bereavement families, single mother families or rich families, and hat families, depending on the background of formation and family composition. With the increase in divorce, the number of single-parent families in all households is on the rise. It can also be classified as a single-parent family if the mother is the primary caregiver, and a single-parent family if the father is the primary caregiver.[4]
Current Status Data on Single-Parent Families in Korea
The number of single-parent households rose from 1.37 million in 2005 to 1.594 million in 2010 and 1.639 million in 2011, with the share of single-parent households in total rising from 8.6% in 2005 to 9.2% in 2010 and 9.3% in 2011. The number of single-parent families has been increasing due to factors other than those of single-parent families, with 29.7 percent of single-parent families, 32.8 percent of divorces, and 11.6 percent of single-parent families.[5]
The Problems of Single-Parent Families in Korea
First of all, single-parent families cite economic problems as the biggest difficulty. This is because it is difficult to secure a stable and well-paid job as the loss of a spouse reduces income and requires raising children alone.[6] In addition, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2011, 83,525 families with hats and 20,479 families with rich families were found to be experiencing more economic difficulties than rich families.[5]
Korea's welfare system for single-parent families
The number of single-parent families in Korea is about 1.75 million, or 9.4 percent of all households, with 1.35 million households with hats and 390,000 households with rich families. However, the number of single-parent families receiving government support stands at 595,624 in 225,472 households, or about 13 percent of all single-parent families. This means that about 87 percent of single-parent families do not receive any government support. Korea's single-parent family support policy is based on the Single-parent Family Support Act. The Single-Parent Family Support Act was enacted in 1989 with the aim of contributing to the stabilization of the livelihood and the promotion of welfare of single-parent families by allowing single-parent families to lead healthy and cultural lives. And over the past 25 years, it has greatly contributed to improving the quality of life of single-parent families through several revisions.
In particular, provisions for the protection of human rights and the promotion of rights and interests of single-parent families were newly established in 2011 and 2013, which provided legal grounds for improving social prejudice and discrimination against single-parent families. Along with the creation of a provision for the protection of human rights, some important amendments are made in 2011. It is the revision of the law that protects the remaining family members even if they have children aged 18 or older by expanding the criteria for selecting single-parent families. As a result, single-parent families with children over 18 years of age can continue to receive government support.[3]
Reference
- ^ "한부모가족". www.doopedia.co.kr (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-10-04.
- ^ Sangdamhak sajŏn = Encyclopedia of counseling. Kim, Ch'un'-gyŏng,, Yi, Su-yŏn,, Yi, Yun-ju,, Chŏng, Chong-jin,, Ch'oe, Ung-yong,, 김 춘경, (1-p'an ed.). Sŏul T'ŭkpyŏlsi. ISBN 978-89-997-0820-6. OCLC 947753546.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b Eunsoog, Hwang (2015). "The Journal of Korea Single Parent Family Institute". Korea Association for Single Parent Family. 8(1): pp.1-33.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ 底所得 偏父母 家族의 生活實態와 政策課題. 韓國保健社會硏究院. 2000. ISBN 8981872244.
- ^ a b "통계청". kostat.go.kr. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
- ^ Ki Jung, Kang (2015). "Development and Effectiveness of an Educational Program for Improving Single Mother's Social Adaptation". International Journal of Human Ecology. 43(9): pp.15-26.
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