Abstract
This chapter describes the sociohistoric context of Korean families and the policymaking process of family policy in South Korea (officially the Republic of Korea, Korea hereafter). Until very recently, Korean families, influenced by Confucianism, have been the primary safety net and care providers with little or no assistance from the government. Recent demographic changes including low fertility, an increasingly aging population, a decrease in marriage, and an increase in divorce and transnational marriages have all contributed to social problems which need a more comprehensive and universal family policy. Major amendments to the marriage law in the Civil Law have eliminated a traditional patriarchal headship system of the family and provided equal opportunity for male and female household headship. This law has also been amended to require divorcing couples to have a period of consideration and to come to a financial settlement for child support. In addition, there have been significant improvements in the family–work balance policy and elderly policy. The newly legislated Framework Act on Healthy Families and the Multicultural Family Support Act provide strength-based and preventive family programs and services to families. Special services for families at risk have been expanded to include low-income families, single parents, and families who have members with special needs or who struggle with domestic violence. Based on these achievements, we can conclude that significant progress in family policy has been made during the last 10 years in Korea. Nevertheless, family policy should continue to develop and be more carefully designed and implemented to encourage men to be more engaged in family life and to shift the strong Korean work-oriented culture to a more family-oriented culture. Furthermore, an evidence-based policy should be sought to encourage positive effects and outcomes.
Note: Jaerim Lee, Soyoung Lee, Seohee Son, and Miai Sung contributed equally and are listed alphabetically.
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Notes
- 1.
This chapter is based on the family policies and programs that are effective as of August 2012.
- 2.
While the OECD average rate of children younger than 3 years of age in formal child care was approximately 30 % in 2008, the corresponding rate was 37.7 % in Korea. While the OECD average rate of children aged 3–5 in formal care was approximately 77 % in 2008, it was 79.8 % in Korea.
- 3.
The Framework Act on Healthy Families has some similarities to the Healthy Marriage Initiative in the USA. The Healthy Marriage Initiative was established after the 2006 reauthorization of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA; PL 104–193) and provided $150 million for demonstration/evaluation projects to promote healthy marriages and responsible fatherhood, especially among needy families (Bogenschneider & Corbett, 2010).
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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. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6771-7_20
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