가구유형별 육아지원 요구와 정책방안 연구: 맞벌이 및 한부모 가구를 중심으로

Abstract

Modern society is rapidly changing and constantly giving birth to new types of family structures. Recognizing the necessity of establishing and implementing child-nurturing support measures that satisfy the diverse needs of different types of family structures, this study examines the current nurturing environment and different issues pertaining to each family type. The family types studied consisted of double-income families, which include households who have access to workplace child care centers and those without, and single-parent families, including households where the grandparents are the primary caregivers. This study also identifies specific child-nurturing support measures for each family type.

Among the surveyed 800 double-income families living in urban areas without workplace child care centers, the majority of 81.3% were making use of child care centers or kindergartens. Most of the households depended on private institutions where the admission fee was higher than that of public institutions; 41.1% attended privately run child care centers, 27.2% attended private kindergartens, 17.8% attended public child care centers, and 8.8% attended public kindergartens. The average cost for these institutions was 301,000 won per month, and more than half (55.5%) received no financial support from the central or local governments. Most of the respondents said that their children are left with no other caregivers when they are at work (40.0%); 39.5% said that their parents take care of the children, and 9.9% said their siblings take care of the children. 199 households had access to child care centers provided by their workplace. These families showed higher rates of taking parental leave than the group without workplace child care centers. Fathers who had access to workplace child care centers were more engaged in child nurturing, and workplace centers cost less (267,000 won per month). This finding underlines the importance of workplace child care centers when it comes to child-nurturing support.

This study surveyed 300 single-parent families and found out that they exhibited some of the typical features of low-income families: low academic levels of achievement, low income, and unstable employment status. Divorce was the number one reason for single-parent families (74.3%). The majority used child care centers and kindergartens (89.7%); these families tend to prefer child care centers (61.0%) to kindergartens (22.0%), and they were spent 144,000 won per month on average. Single mothers pointed out economic problems as the most difficult challenge they face, while single fathers said that serving both as a mother and father was the most challenging aspect of their lives. This research indicates that single-father families are in dire need of support; all four cases of families where the grandparents were the main caregivers began as single-father families.

Based on these research results, this study came to the following conclusions. First, a child-nurturing support policy should be established based on family structure types rather than household income levels. To this end, the number of workplace child care centers should be increased. The study also recommends building child care centers in small enterprises and shelters/centers for single parents. Second, flexible and strong government policies should be implemented. Organically linked services and multi-faceted policies should be implemented to produce a bigger synergious effect (e.g., packaged support that combines child care facility and child nurturing). Third, education programs for parents and children should be developed in accordance with the needs of each family type. Existing infrastructure should be used to this end. For working parents who cannot take time to participate themselves, educational programs for parents should be provided via other mediums such as TV and radio.