한국인의 자녀 양육관 연구

Abstract

The study aims to examine Korean parents’ or prospective parents’ view on marriage, child-birth, education and child-rearing philosophy. The study was conducted using surveys on perceptions of marriage, child birth, the value of children, parents’ beliefs on child-rearing, expectations of children and social issues related to child-rearing. The research methods used included collection and reviews of literature, a survey of 3,747 adults, male and female, aged 22 to 25, professional meetings and focus group interviews. For the purpose of this research, we define parents’ views on child-rearing to be as comprehensive as possible, meaning any parental values, philosophy, beliefs and behaviors that can affect child rearing, and its three subordinate concepts includes perceptions on the value of children, expectations of children and beliefs on child-rearing. According to the survey, 92.5% of singles intend to get married, whereas 7.5% do not want to get married (3.6%: male; 10.3%: female). In the meantime, 10.9% of singles responded that they would not have a child, and the rate was higher among women and those in higher income brackets. In regard to the value of children, 86.9% of respondents answered that "they are pleased to have and bring up a child", 86.2% replied that "it is necessary to have a child to maintain a good marriage life", and 76.4% answered that "they can rely on their children after retirement". 82.9% of respondents responded that "it is not necessary to have a child", citing child-rearing expenses and educational expenses as their main reasons. It has been found that Korean parents tend to think that they need to be strict with their children, and to value discipline and control. 93.3% of respondents answered that "it is the best way for a mother to personally rear her child", 49.5% answered that they would personally bring up their child even if the mother is employed. Only 18.4% of respondents answered that they used a childcare facility to bring up their child after childbirth, but the lower income bracket, the greater willingness to use a childcare facility. According to the survey, parents want their child to have "self-confidence" the most and have different expectations of their children depending on the gender of their children. In terms of education, 47.7% of parents with son(s) and 40.4% of parents with daughter(s) expect their child to go up to a graduate school. In addition, 15% of respondents answered that they wanted to go abroad to give birth to a baby, and 24.1% of respondents had positive views on their child’s studying abroad at an early age. With regard to the early education of young children, more than 50% of respondents answered that their child needs to learn Korean language, English, math and arts before entering an elementary school.