Earticle

The purpose of this study is to suggest how the first birthday rite, a practice inKorean culture, has changed over the time. A survey of 250 mothers was undertaken from October 11th to November 6th,2012. The research questions asked in this study are as follows. What general andexpert views are held about the first birthday rite? What type of awareness andknowledge do mothers have about the first birthday rite? Is there any correlationbetween mothers’ awareness and knowledge about first birthday rite? What is theimportance of the components of the baby's first birthday rite and the importance ofchoosing first birthday rite goods?The data were analyzed using SPSS 17.0. Frequency, F-test, correlation were alsoemployed. The results of this study are as follows: The first birthday rite shows aclear link to socializing. It is a family event, but is also seen as an opportunity to enhance relationships with relatives, colleagues, and friends. A banquet hall is chosenas preferred first birthday rite location, and participants are served a meal and receivegifts. The banquet information on first birthday rites was initially collected from theinternet, blog cafes, and an experienced. However, it has become gradually morecommon to hire a consultant to organize the first birthday rite. Awareness of the firstbirthday rite is high, but knowledge is relatively low. In addition, there is a positiverelationship between awareness and knowledge about the first birthday rite. Whenmothers are preparing for their baby's first birthday, they consider food for the guests’ banquet, space and time. Finally, individual positive relationships were found between choosing first birthday rite goods and employee services, contract pricing for goods,and food for guests.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of the degree of preparation for old age and the sense of crisis on the marital satisfaction of married mid-life women. The participants in this study were 300 women ranging in age from 40 to 59years residing in Gyeonggi-do. Two hundred and forty-nine self- reported questionnaires were used for final analysis by SPSS PASW 18.0. The major results of this study were as follows. First, the mean score on the sense of crisis scale was 2.56±0.65, representing a medium level. The mean scores for degree of preparation for later life and marital satisfaction were 3.54±0.57 and 3.67±0.88, which were somewhat high. Second, socio-demographic characteristics have a significant influence on married, middle-aged women. There were primarily differences in the sense of crisis by age cohort(such as women in their 50s) and level of education. Moreover, there weredifferences in the degree of preparation for later life by marriage duration and differences in marital satisfaction by level of education, monthly average income, and employment status. Third, in multiple regression analysis, the variables significantly influencing the marital satisfaction of married, middle-aged women included health status and monthly average income as control variables. Mid-life crisis also had a significant effect. The degree of preparation for emotional later life had a significant effect as an independent variable. These findings suggest that the level of sense of crisis and the degree of preparation for emotional later life affected the women's marital satisfaction. Other factors did not have a significant affect. Based on the above results, intervention alternatives are needed to improve the marital satisfaction of married, middle-aged women.

This study investigated the relationship between smartphone addiction propensities and leisure satisfaction according to leisure time constraints among university students and attempted to promote an effective and desirable leisure culture. The main findings were as follows: First, leisure time constraints showed differences in terms of the withdrawal factors, overall smartphone addiction propensities, and leisure satisfaction; self-efficacy showed significant differences in terms of withdrawal and overall smartphone addiction propensities; and control showed a significant difference in leisure satisfaction. Second, in the case of university students, it was revealed that regardless of leisure constraints, as disturbance of daily living and tolerance are higher, leisure satisfaction is lower in those with smartphone addiction propensities.

This study aims to examine the patterns of middle-aged parents’ intergenerational support exchange with their adult children and its effects on the happiness of the parents. The sample consisted of 765 middle- aged parents selected from the National Survey of Korean Families by the Ministry of Equality and Family in 2010. The results were as follows. First, intergenerational support exchange between parents and their adult children was categorized into four groups depending on the provider of support: parents who exchanged no support with their children, parents who only received support from their children, parents who only provided support to their children, and parents who exchanged support with their children. Second, parents who exchanged no support with their children were high in instrumental support and those who both provided and received support were high in emotional support. Third, consciousness of their children significantly affected the satisfaction level of their relationship with their children. The more the parents emphasize on the growth of their children, the more they were satisfied. Parents in the support exchange group were more satisfied when they received economic support from their children. With regard to instrumental and emotional support, parents were more satisfied when they provided support to or mutually exchanged support with their children. Forth, subjective health conditions, consciousness of their children, and household's income more significantly affected the happiness of middle-aged parents than the patterns of intergenerational support exchange. With regard to economic support, parents who only received support from their children were less happy than the other groups. With regard to instrumental support, parents who exchanged no support with their children were happier than the other groups. With regard to emotional support, parents who provided support to their children were happier than the other groups.

This study aims to investigate the levels of assets and debts that male- and female-headed households have in comparison to married-couple households. Toward this end, a series of analyses of data from the 2011 Korean Household Finance Survey on the assets and debts of single-parent households are conducted. The empirical results reveal that the amounts of assets and net worth of married-couple households were significantly larger than those of male- and female-headed households. A comparison between male- and female-headed households show that the latter were more likely to hold financial assets such as savings accounts, savings insurance and mutual funds. The amounts of assets of female-headed households were significantly larger than those of male-headed households. Furthermore, the amount of credit card debt in mele-headed households was significantly larger than that in female-headed households.

In light of today's socioeconomic scenario, life management skills, especially economic life management skills are essential. This study focuses on a household account book as a tool for economic education. This study aims to assess the characteristics of household economic management in terms of the effect of keeping a household account book on Japanese in their 20s to 30s in a single-family household. It also compares the awareness of the change in economic life behavior between before and after keeping a household account book. Moreover, it analyzes the determinants of continuity in keeping a household account book. This Study used data obtained from an Internet survey of household account books by the Institute for Research on Household Economics in Japan. The study sample consist of 1,255 Japanese in their 20s to 30s who kept household account records for a month as well as preliminary and post-survey information about these people. The results were as follows. First, the average annual income of the subjects was at most 3,000,000 yen; their level of financial assets was at most 1,000,000 yen, their economic life behavior became future-oriented after practice of keep a household account book in that they established a budget and savings plan. Second, keeping a household account book had a positive effect on the people that they have budget and spending plans for the next year. Finally, factors that affected the continuity in keeping a household account book included the experience of keeping one from before.

The purpose of this research is to suggest some measures to improve policy issues by analyzing policy related to a child care service program in the community. Gilbert and Terrell's social policy analysis framework is used to analyze an after-school care service program for elementary school children. Furthermore, the Elementary Care Class(including the After-school Program), Youth After-school Academy, and Community Child Center, referred to as public care services, are employed to analyze community care service programs for children. The Elementary Care Class, Youth After-school Academy and Community Child Center are very similar in terms of the contents and application of the care service program for children, and mainly serve children in low-income groups. In addition, although user overlapping is an inevitable problem because the operating time of the Elementary Care Class and After-school Program coincides with that of the Youth After-school Academy and Community Child Center, it is structurally very hard to adjust the content of service, operating time, and so on because of differences in the delivery system for each program. Therefore, it is necessary to generate a unified delivery system to manage after-school care service programs for children and create a new special control tower to solve these problems. Furthermore, it is needed to extend the services to children from general double-income family, which is a blind spot of the care service.