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The purpose of this study is to analyze the family’s meals of the daily time use and to examine how shared meals time together with family is influenced by socio- demographic variables. The Time Use Survey data collected by Korean National Statistical Office in 2009 is used. Among the total sample of 21,000 individuals, 9,179 samples who are married, aged from 20 to 59 years old and non-farmers are selected for analysis. The statistical methods are frequency, percentage, and censored regression model. The following is a summary of the major findings. The first, compared with the research results in 1999 and 2004, the time use of meals by adults is longer. But average time of family meals decreases and rates of family meals participants 2009 decrease 5.6% than 1999. Secondly, the family meals time increases from about 36 minutes on weekdays to about an hours at weekends. Regardless of the day, the women’s family meals time is longer than that of men’s. Thirdly, the influencing factors on family meals are sex, age, education, presence or absence of spouses, monthly income, weekly working hours and presence or absence of preschoolers. And the magnitude of gender differences in daily shared meals is not particularly large except in the case of some socio-demographic variables. Regardless of the day, women’s family meals time is more affected by either dual-earner status or monthly income than that of men’s.

Social capital theory provides a robust framework for analyzing economic well being. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of social capital on the economic satisfaction of retirees in Korea. The data from the first wave of KLoSA(Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging) were used(n=1,628). SPSS 12.0 was used for descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The major findings were as follows: First, after controlling for gender, age, region, housing tenure, and personal income, the social capital of the retirees, including cognitive social capital(trust and reciprocity) and structural social capital(emotional and economic familial support, and a well-developed social network), contributes to increases in their economic well-being. Second, the degree of effect social capital has on well-being varied by gender and age; the effect was also different according to gender, regardless of the person’s age. These empirical results provide a basis for the institution of policies that help bolster economic well- being for retirees by creating conditions that increase social capital in this group.

This study is to explore the effects of leisure life on multi-cultural family from a view of marriage migrants women. For this purpose, data were collected by in-depth interviews of 24 marriage migrants women who came from 7 countries such as Vietnam, China, Japan etc.. They are living in Daejeon city, Okcheon gun(Chungbuk), Gumi city(Gyungbuk) and the length of residence is ranging from 4 and half month to 13 years and 6 months. Data were analyzed by qualitative method. Major findings are as follows: First, individual and family leisure of marriage migrant women had positive effects on adaptation of her family life. Especially, in the early marriage stage, family leisure contributed women’s emotional stability. Second, time was the most limiting constraints in family leisure of multi-cultural family. Third, early in the marriage, marriage migrant women who is not fluent in Korean language, customs, and courtesy hinders them from joining their family leisure. Fourth, leisure may seem to contribute to family life satisfaction, but marital relationships and household economy has to be settled beforehand.

This qualitative case study examines how mid-life housewives perceive age, react to aging, and experience the changing of their appearance that comes with age. The participants of this study were eight housewives‒four full-time housewives and four working housewives in middle adulthood. This study was conducted through in-depth interviews that were based on an unstructured questionnaire, and the data was collected from January 2010 to October 2010. Findings are as follows: during mid-life, housewives continue to exert efforts toward self-development, and toward self-actualization that can unleash the potential of their “multi-self”. The housewives of the Entering Middle Adulthood self-actualization period believe that the material self as manifested in appearance is the most important component of the multi-self. Indeed, both groups of housewives thought a great deal about the criterion of appearance for their age and were concerned about others’ viewpoints, social stereotypes, the appearance “norm,” and other characteristics related to appearance. The full-time housewives made efforts to improve their social selves, and the working housewives tried to enhance their spiritual selves. The viewpoints of husbands are often internalized into housewives’ internal points of view; therefore the relationships of housewives with their husbands were crucial both to the confidence the women felt in their appearance, and to their satisfaction in life.

This qualitative study focused on the dual earner families’ work and family life to explore the possibility of ideal work-family balance. Seven employed married women and two men were interviewed about their work-family balance during two months in 2010. We described four representative cases of having difficulty in work and life balance. And we identified the three dimensions to make their work-family balance difficult. They are motherhood ideology, ideal worker, and the limit of men’s housework participation. For ideal work-family balance, we suggested alternatives. First, the companies should make various work-life balance programs and allow their workers to use them actively. Second, the government should support the needs of work-life balance and carry out various family-friendly and child care polices. Third, husbands have to participate the housework much more and the model of ‘good’ parents need to be modified.

This study examined the effects of the division of household labor on the marital satisfaction of husbands and wives in dual-earner families. Data were collected from 193 couples in dual-earner families; the questionnaire measurements were based on recommendations from the literature review. The questionnaire consisted of inquiries concerning gender role attitudes, marital communication efficiency, division of household labor, satisfaction in the division of household labor, and marital satisfaction. Each of these categories had an individual measurement scale that enabled measurement of its impact on marital satisfaction. The major findings of this study are as follows: The couples in dual-earner families showed egalitarian gender role attitudes and high levels of marital communication efficiency. They also reported high levels of satisfaction with their division of household labor and their marital lives. Wives in dual-earner families had more egalitarian gender role attitudes compared with their husbands, and husbands perceived themselves to be investing more time in performing household chores (that is, in the division of household labor) than was perceived by their wives. Husbands were also more satisfied with the division of household labor and marital life compared to their wives. Finally, hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that satisfaction in the division of household labor and in marital communication efficiency (as perceived by the couples) significantly predicted husbands’ marital satisfaction. On the other hand, wives’ age, marital communication efficiency, and the differences in the division of household labor (as perceived by the couples) significantly predicted wives’ marital satisfaction.

Rethinking the Value of Family This study compares and contrasts positive and negative viewpoints concerning the family. Currently, a resurgence in positive viewpoints has exposed the untruths and myths put forth concerning the family on the part of those with a more pessimistic viewpoint. However, those with negative viewpoints still have not acknowledged that the family is an important part of human lives. In this study, the “equal family” (a family where tasks are split evenly among, say, the mother and father with regard to both vocation and household tasks) is criticized as an alternative to the “unfair family”, as the “equal family” structure fails to go beyond the liberalization of family relationships to create a virtuous structure worthy of emulation by the children in the family. This is true in spite of the fact that the “equal family” structure has done much to improve individual freedom in the lives of its members. In conclusion, this study posits a third family structure, the “life family,” as a new alternative to the other two models. The “life family” recognizes the family’s central role: as a safe haven for raising children and building human esteem through close long-term relationships.

The purpose of this study is to survey the patterns of intergenerational financial resource transfers among three generations, and to examine the effects of providers’ financial resources on intergenerational financial resource transfers. The paper presents an analysis of data from KReIS on the financial transfers provided by the aged 40-69 years to their parents and children. The results show that around one-third of the respondents reported providing financial resource transfers to their parents, and that about half of the respondents provided financial transfers to their children. In terms of the other direction of financial transfers, a small percentage of the respondents received financial transfers from their parents otherwise more than half of the respondents reported having financial transfers from their children. Considering age differences among the respondents, we find that respondents in the age 60s are more likely to receive financial transfers from their children than those in the age 50s or 40s. Statistically significant determinants of providing financial transfers are different from who received transfers.

This study was designed to develop the evaluation scale for health-grade of families. For this goal the related references and the programs of Healthy-Families-Center were analyzed. In the context with the goals and objects of programs in Healthy-Families- Center the index for the evaluation the health-grade of families was deducted. And the concrete items of health-grade of families in 3 parts(R: relation, M: management, E: environment) was discussed. In order to verify the validity and significance of the scale the survey for 200 samples was performed and the data from 191 samples was statistically analyzed. We suggested the application methods of this evaluation scale for health- grade of families. So the 8 types of families were came out: RME, RMe, RmE, rME, Rme, rMe, rmE, rme. Using this type of families the consulting and counselling for the enhancement of health-grade can be developed. We reached the conclusion that this evaluation scale has to be continuously developed and eleborated because the health- grade of families is one of the most important index for the effect of programs of Healthy Families Center.