This pilot project included six sub-projects that sought women's opinions on their self concepts of childbearing, gender and relational roles.

Korea

In 1962, the Government of South Korea established a national family planning policy designed to curb population growth. The two-child family became the norm, and total fertility fell from 6.0 children per woman in 1960 to 1.6 children per woman in 1990. As the same time, the country's economy prospered. Nonetheless, the status of women has lagged behind other social and demographic indicators of Korea's success.

Research Findings

This pilot project included six sub-projects that sought women's opinions through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. A seventh involved secondary analysis of national survey data. The qualitative studies were small and should not be generalized to the larger population. However, preliminary results suggest that:

• Today, Korean women concentrate reproductive activity in a short time span immediately following marriage. Young women typically started working around age 20, marry at age 23, leave the work force to begin childbearing, and return once childrearing is complete. Younger women have an average of two children with the last birth typically occurring less than three years after their first. In contrast, older women married at age 22, had an average of three children, and began their first job at age 26. Older women had their last child 90 months after their first. Older women did not find work outside the home compatible with childbearing. "It was the bank which didn't allow a woman to continue work after marriage. That made me quit the job. Today, it seems that the married women could continue working."

• As younger women spend less time in childbearing, they are available to spend more time in the work force. However, there is a lag between the country's employment system, which asks women for a commitment to work, and societal expectations, which define women as primary caregivers for children. Child care facilities are inadequate for supporting women's work life outside the home. Men's attitudes toward sex roles are more traditional than women's. The dual burdens of work outside and inside the home have created stress for younger women. "Many of the professional women I know have merged their dual roles successfully," said one study participant. "But no one has escaped without personal sacrifice or struggle or inner conflict."

• Traditionally, women's unconditional sacrifice and affection characterized the relationships between mother and child in Korea; however, this bond is weakening somewhat. The mother role, at least among the middle class, has become "professionalized" and women are expected to foster their children's educational and vocational success.

• Love and companionship between husband and the wife are becoming the criteria upon which a couple decides whether they continue their marital life.

• Regardless of age or employment status, all women had a strong family-orientation and a "relational" concept of self. That is, they defined themselves in terms of their relationships with others. However, women also had a concept of the autonomous or independent self. Older women based their sense of self on their fulfillment of their roles as hyunmo-yangcho (wise mother and obedient wife). Younger women had lower self-esteem than their older peers, due to uncertainty about women's changing roles and differences in men and women's perspectives.

• Women of all ages were exposed to gender stereotypes. However, women in their twenties had more flexible views about gender roles. Unexpectedly, women in the older age group had a stronger "masculine" gender identity than those in the younger age group. When older women were asked to described themselves they typically used terms associated with "male" traits, such as "independent" or "aggressive," while younger women described themselves as "submissive."

• Younger women are less likely to want only sons than older women, who saw male children as essential to preserve the family line. Yet even with diminished son preference, the small-family norm has contributed to an unbalanced sex ratio at higher parities, due to son preference and fetal sex selection.

• Contrary to expectations, increased participation in the community, including political activity, has not followed the dramatic drop in fertility. In the initial focus groups, women, regardless of age, were not interested in politics – either as observers or as participants in the political process. Surprisingly, women from the younger generation were less interested in politics and also less informed than the older women. When the same younger women participated in a focus group discussion after the presidential election and the country's recent economic turmoil, they had become much more interested in politics. Women said they realized that the presidential election and resulting political and economic policies were strongly affecting their day-to-day lives.

Recommendations

Women's roles in Korea have changed in the past three decades. Access to family planning is almost universal, families are small, and women have greater opportunities to participate in the labor market. Consequently, even married women have now joined the work force. However, these changes have precipitated stress and confusion, especially for younger women, who find their new roles in conflict with cultural traditions that define and value women exclusively in terms of their roles as mothers and wives.

Women and men should reconsider traditional gender roles that define women mainly as mothers and homemakers and men as financial providers; the reality of Korean society no longer reflects these traditional ideals. At the same time, policies need to make it easier for women to work outside the home (e.g., availability of child care) and for men to have the time to participate in the home.

Study Details

This study was supported by corporate funds from Family Health International and a matching grant from the Institute for Social Development and Policy Research, Seoul National University. It was conducted by an interdisciplinary team of eleven researchers from the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, Hoseo University, the Korean Women's Development Institute, Ewha Womans University, Korea University, Konkuk University and Seoul National University. It was coordinated by Dr. Park, Insook H. and received technical assistance from FHI.