Earticle

The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of satisfaction with the marriage support policy on marriage intention among unmarried employed men and women. The study subjects included 300 unmarried working men and women aged over 30 years residing in the Seoul metropolitan area. First, according to the analysis of the subjects’ overall tendency towards satisfaction with the marriage support policy and towards marriage intention, the marriage support policy gained the highest level of support in relation to housing for newlywed couples, which scored 3.29 (sd=.93), followed by improvements in corporate and family culture for the purposes of work-family compatibility at 3.24 (sd=.95), wedding loans at 3.18 (sd=1.01), and the paid leave system for marriage preparation at 3.12 (sd=.88). These variables scored slightly higher than the median 3 points. Conversely, satisfaction with the availability of marriage-related information and the provision of opportunities for dating scored 2.65 (sd=.88) and 2.78 (sd=.80), respectively, both of which were slightly lower than the median of 3. The overall mean score for satisfaction with the marriage support policy was 3.03 (sd=.95), which was slightly higher than the median of 3. In regards to marriage intention, the score was 3.32 (sd=1.15) points out of a perfect score of 5, which was slightly higher than the median. This indicated a slightly higher level in terms of the subjects’ intention to marry. Second, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed to identify the effect of satisfaction with the marriage support policy on marriage intention among unmarried employed adults. Sociodemographic variables were entered as control variables in the regression at the first stage, and variables relating to satisfaction in a family-friendly social environment were entered at the second stage. When gender, age, educational level, monthly income, period of employment, working hours, and type of employment were inserted in the first stage of regression as control variables, gender, monthly income, period of employment, and type of employment were found to have a significant effect on marriage intention. Marriage intention was found to be greater in unmarried men with higher monthly incomes and longer periods spent working, and in unmarried working men and women engaged in tenured employment work. When variables relating to satisfaction with the marriage support policy were inserted in the second stage of regression, gender, monthly income, type of employment, and satisfaction with direct marriage support had significant effects on marriage intention. It was found that marriage intention was greater in unmarried men whose monthly income was higher, whose employment type was tenured work, and who showed greater satisfaction with direct marriage support.

The purpose of this study is to find out the features of the Korean family change since 2,000 and to interpret the meaning of the change on the basis of the critical review of both the positive perspective and the negative perspective of the family change in Korea. Through the method of the literature review and the analysis of the various statistics by KOSTAT, it is drawn that explaining the change only by “diversity of family compositions” is not enough to figure out the meaning of the family change in Korea today and that it is needed to go further to approach the change as disintegration of the ‘nuclear’ composed of the married couple and their children. It is also drawn that the disintegration has led to weakening of the long term functions by the family, i. e., the function of life and of the virtues, which shakes the way of human life and the order of our society. Therefore, the present family change in Korea is to be understood as crisis, not as progress. And it is recommended that the family politics in Korea is to be focused on the ways for the healthy functioning and rebuilding the nuclear of the family.

The purpose of this study was to explore the changes in adolescents' time use and time famine between 2004~2014. The data sources were the Time Use Surveys, which were conducted by the Korea National Statistical Office in 2004 and 2014. A total of 15,386 time diaries (9,008 from 2004, 6,378 from 2014) from adolescents aged between 10 and 18 were analyzed. Descriptive statistics, chi-square, t-test were used for the statistical analyses. The main findings were as follows: First, the necessary time of adolescents was more in 2014 compared to 2004. In particular, adolescents' sleeping time increased on Saturdays. Second, on weekdays and Saturdays, the school hours of adolescents was less in 2014 compared to 2004. But extra school hours of adolescents were more on Saturdays. Third, adolescents had more leisure time on Saturdays but less leisure time on Sundays in 2014 than 2004. Fourth, the average time famine score was lower in 2014 compared to 2004. Even so, the score for high school students was higher than 3 in 4 point Likert scale. This study provides a data-base on the well-being of adolescents and the education policies that affect them.