The childbearing years, common residence with parents, and woman's work in Korea

Date
1979
Authors
Buchmeier, Francis X.
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Abstract
The correlations between reduced fertility, shortened years spent in bearing children, common residence with parents, and woman's work are studied employing the framework of the family life cycle. Since in Korea grandparents aid in raising grandchildren, common residence with the older generation, or even nearby residence, can be expected to relate to a woman's work and to her pattern of bearing children. To study these relations women who have ended childbearing are compared and contrasted with women who have not ended childbearing. Data was obtained from a panel of 1223 women of Kyongnam and Cheju Provinces of Korea. There were two waves of interviews, October 1, 1975 and May 31, 1978. The interval allowed women to be distinguished as having ended their childbearing or not having ended it based on their expressed desire to have or not have children, and their subsequent performance. It was found that for the majority of women childbearing ends between 7 and 16 years after marriage. Rapid acceptance of family planning by those married about 7 to 11 years indicates that younger cohorts are probably ending childbearing sooner and with fewer children than the immediately older cohorts did. Family planning is used to stop having children, rather than for spacing. In the Kyongnam Province sample area the custom of common residence of parents with eldest son was found to be in force with few exceptions. The sample showed a decrease in occurrence of common residence from 1975 to 1973, corresponding to the national trend. The decrease is due more to the outmigration of unmarried sons than to household division of stern family households already formed. In Cheju Province, on the other hand, where separate residence is the custom, common residence occurs based on the needs of the two generations, and showed no change in occurrence over the research interval. Patterns of separate residence in Kyongnam and Cheju do not fit well with an interpretation which would claim Koreans are adopting the Western conjugal family ideal type. The data rather indicate the adaptability of Korea's patrilineal family. The residence patterns in Cheju are a more likely picture of Korea's future common residence patterns than are residence patterns in the West. In Kyongnam the quicker end of childbearing could lead to fewer years spent in common residence with parents. Most women do both housework and farming. Less than 10 percent do only housework, and 23 percent are further engaged in work for extra income. The total number of children borne or a recent childbirth did not relate strongly to women's extra income work overall. However, for women with no mother-in-law available a recent birth greatly decreased the likelihood of work for extra income, even though most of the work was compatible with raising a child on the job. Among the women in the sample similarities in their childbearing patterns are more striking than differences. Thus, for Korea outside the large cities, at least, we may speak of a "typical" childbearing pattern within the family life cycle. This typical pattern is a partial explanation of the sharp peak in age specific fertility in Korea in the 25-29 year age group. The tendency to bear children "in phase" with other women will heighten the effect of fertility changes on the future age composition of the population.
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Photocopy of typescript.
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1979.
Bibliography: leaves 164-171.
Microfiche.
xiii, 171 leaves ill. 29 cm
Keywords
Fertility, Human -- Korea, Parents -- Korea, Women -- Employment -- Korea
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Theses for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (University of Hawaii at Manoa). Sociology; no. 1258
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