South Korea family policy
Family policy in South Korea aims to tackle the perceived challenges of an aging population and a potential future labor shortage as a result of low birth rates. The fertility rate has been declining since the 1970s, down to 1.17 in 2002.[1] Meanwhile, the percentage of people over the age of 65 has been rising and is expected to reach 37% by 2050. [2] The government is trying to balance increasing female participation in the job market and raising the fertility rate. [3] Korean family policy has traditionally been of a conservative nature, stemming from ties to Confucianism and a view that the family is the center of a social structure. [4] For this reason, Korean families were usually of a male-breadwinner structure, and family policies left things like child care up to individual families to sort out. [5] Since the turn of the century, Korea has moved from its Confucian roots toward a neo-familism that still values the family, but also allows and encourages women to move into the workforce and have equality. [6]
Current Policies[edit]
In 2007, the Korean government updated its work-family policies with the Equal Employment Act. Child care legislation passed in 1991 with the Infant Child Care Act. [7] Women have been able to take leave from work after childbirth since the 1950s, but in 2001 the number of days was expanded from 60 to 90 days and pay while on leave was added. Women working for larger companies can get 60 days paid leave from their employers and 30 days from social insurance. Women working for small businesses use social insurance for the entire 90 days. [7] Fathers can take 3 days of paid leave and 2 days of unpaid leave off after a child is born. [3] Subsidies are provided for child care up to age 5, or a stipend can be paid to low-income families that aren’t using child care facilities. [4] If parents would rather work fewer hours, they can request part-time work instead of using their 90 days of time off. [7] Even with the new laws, many mothers are asked to come back to work before their leave is up, and many families choose to keep very young children at home rather than use the available child care facilities. [7] Family resources like grandparents are still widely used to care for young children with working parents. [4]
References[edit]
- ↑ Paik, Y. (2010). Technologies of "the korean family": Population crisis and the politics of reproduction in contemporary south korea (Order No. AAI3407749). Available from PsycINFO. (822367145; 2010-99210-519). Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/822367145?accountid=14524
- ↑ OECD (2007), Facing the Future: Korea's Family, Pension and Health Policy Challenges, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264065406-en
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Soomi Lee, Ann-Zofie Duvander & Steven H. Zarit (2016) How can family policies reconcile fertility and women’s employment? Comparisons between South Korea and Sweden, Asian Journal of Women's Studies, 22:3, 269-288, DOI: 10.1080/12259276.2016.1202027
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Chin M., Lee J., Lee S., Son S., Sung M. (2014) Family Policy in South Korea: Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. In: Robila M. (eds) Handbook of Family Policies Across the Globe. Springer, New York, NY
- ↑ Fleckenstein, T., & Lee, S. C. (2014). The Politics of Postindustrial Social Policy: Family Policy Reforms in Britain, Germany, South Korea, and Sweden. Comparative Political Studies, 47(4), 601–630. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414012451564
- ↑ Lee D. The evolution of family policy in South Korea: From Confucian familism to Neo‐familism. Asian Soc Work Pol Rev. 2018;12:46–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/aswp.12137
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Chin, M., Lee, J., Lee, S. et al. Family Policy in South Korea: Development, Current Status, and Challenges. Journal of Child and Family Studies, Volume 21, Issue 1, February 2012; 21: 53. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-011-9480-1
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