• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.63-75
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• 2021

The purpose of this research was to examine the experiences of three types of family-friendly workplace professionals (professionals here after) including consultants, certification auditors, and professional instructors, and to provide suggestions for the improvement of training programs aimed at such professionals. Ten professionals participated in focus group interviews. Two themes were identified: the competencies of the professionals and ways to improve the training system and the curriculums of training programs. Competencies are dependent on job type. Therefore, different training programs should be provided to the three types of professionals. To make training programs more comprehensive, most participants agreed that training program curriculums for the three types of professionals should link together. Participants also suggested increasing training time and differentiating training programs between new and experienced specialists. In terms of improving the training system, professional networking and the creation of a database for family-friendly programs were discussed. The findings suggest that training programs need to be restructured in line with the competencies required by the professionals and professionals' needs.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.49-68
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• 2016

Fathers are increasingly expected to participate in parenting due to the higher participation of women in economic activities, the growing awareness of gender equality, and the greater emphasis on the role of fathers. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of paid work time and jobs' family-friendly policies on parenting participation in dual-earner families. Questionnaires were distributed to 577 fathers of dual earner families through a child care center in the Gyeongsangbukdo Province, and the results were analyzed using SPSS 18.0 for Windows. The statistical methods employed included mean, standard deviation, the Pearson correlation analysis, and a multiple regression analysis. The main results are as follows. First, the fathers of dual-earner families showed an above average level of participation in parenting (3.26). By category, they were less involved (2.89) in household chores, and more active in daily guidance and leisure activities (3.48). Second, the most significant variable affecting fathers' parenting participation was having a regular office-closing time. Fathers who were younger, had a higher level of education, had a regular office-closing time, had more vacation leave, and whose companies implemented family-friendly policies were more likely to participate more actively in parenting. Third, the key factors influencing fathers' parenting participation by sub-category were found to be having a regular office-closing time and jobs with family-friendly policies. Fathers with a greater awareness of gender equality were more inclined to participate in household chores, while those who were younger and more educated actively participated in daily guidance and leisure activities.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.50 no.7
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• pp.97-107
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• 2012

The aim of this study is to suggest the introduction of family impact analysis. Family impact analysis is needed to evaluate family policies from the family perspective. This study deals with the definition of family impact analysis and the cases of other impact analysis, such as gender impact assessment and employment impact analysis. In addition, this study suggests the introduction of family impact analysis with evaluation methods, evaluation indicators, and evaluation processes. Evaluation methods are divided into self-assessment and specific-assessment. Evaluation indicators need to be developed based on the family strength. This research also suggests the securing of family time as a basic assessment indicator. The evaluation processes consist of object selection, assessment, evaluation report, and policy improvement. Finally, this study suggests that family impact analysis is a strong strategy for promoting family-friendly policies. In order to introduce family impact analysis in a more systematic manner, further studies on the standards of assessment, formation of research institutions, and the legislative system will be necessary.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.79-93
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• 2021

This study explored how the family-friendly culture of married employees is related to family strength and verified the mediating effects of work-life balance in such a relationship. The study included 213 married employees aged from their 20s to their 60s. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 18.0, and the Baron and Kenny (1986) method was used to perform descriptive statistics, difference verification, regression analysis, and mediation analysis. The results of the analysis were as follows. First, the differences between the general characteristics of married employees and family strength were analyzed. Among the general characteristics, married employees in their 60s were found to have a higher level of family strength compared with other married employees in their 40s-50s and 20s-30s. Furthermore, married employees with higher education (higher than college or graduate school education), with supporters, with a household income of more than 6.01 million KRW, and with positions higher than middle management were found to have higher levels of family strength compared with their counterparts in each case. Second, hierarchical regression was performed to analyze the factors affecting family strength; the younger the age, the higher the level of family-friendly culture and work-life balance, and the higher the level of family strength of married employees. Third, according to Baron and Kenny's(1986) mediation analysis, the balance between work and life had a partial mediating effect on the relationship between a family-friendly culture and family strength. Therefore, a family-friendly culture and work-life balance were verified to be important factors that can serve as alternatives for improving the family strength of married employees.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.63-79
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of family-friendly community policy and child care policy on parents with young children. Particularly, two specific questions were addressed: 1) Were there differences in the perception of community family-friendliness among parents with young children in Seoul provinces? 2) Were there differences in the perception of community family-friendliness among parents with young children, depending on child-care infrastructures in Seoul provinces? Data for this study were drawn from multiple sources. Individual-level indicators were drawn from the survey of 1,246 parents with children under age 6 in Seoul. Community-level indicators were drawn from the 2011 Seoul census data. Frequency, descriptive statistics, GIS mapping, and hierarchical linear model analysis were conducted to examine the perception of community family-friendliness by individual, child-care infrastructures, and the community at large. The major results of the present study are as follows: The perception of parents on community family-friendliness varied across the 25 provinces in Seoul. The perception of community family-friendliness was positively related with the total number of child day-care centers, and the number of infant-toddler child daycare centers. The number of accredited child daycare centers was negatively associated with the perception of community family-friendliness.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.137-163
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• 2010

This study examines how individual, familial, and social factors are associated with persistent very low fertility in Busan Metropolitan City and contemplates family-friendly environments and social strategies for fertility increase. Fertility decline in Busan Metropolitan City recorded the lowest birth rate nationwide recent years among metropolitan cities and provinces in Korea. Birthrates are low partly because of multiple factors such as high age at childbearing and at marriage, decline in marriage, high divorce rate, the phenomena of marriage avoidance among unmarried women, traditional gender role attitude of men, low domestic work participation of husbands among dual career couples, low marital satisfaction and family life satisfaction, abortion, and more broader attiributes such as family policy, availability of childcare, education expenses, and family-friendlyness of a society. In addition, women of dual career couples in Busan strained from domestic work overload under traditional norms of gender role, and marital satisfaction recorded below average nationwide along with espeacially low marital satisfaction of wives compared to that of husbands. Major aspects of implications and considerations for higher birth rate and family friendly policy in Busan are discussed.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.9-20
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• 2009

Today, as proved in many foreign developed countries, the concept of 'Aging in Place' is the most desirable goal of welfare policy for an aging society. While multi-family housing is the most representative form of residence in Korea, it has not actively reflected convenient space lay-out for the elderly and barrier-free designs. As a foundation for the planning of elderly-friendly multi-family housing, this study suggested the comparative analysis of the five domestic design guidelines for elderly housing so as to apply the elderly-friendly flexibility for apartment units. In result, the most importantly treated items and factors of the silver house guidelines were analyzed, and based on which ten unit houses of domestic apartment housing were evaluated in order to find out the most barrier-like spaces and factors for the present domestic apartment housing to reflect flexibility as elderly housing. Finally, the way to resolve the problem was suggested as a conclusion.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.151-166
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• 2012

The major findings are(were) as follows: 1) The Eco-friendly consumption behavior was divided into three(3) clusters, namely "The Middle Group" of eco-friendly consumption behavior(cluster I), "The Inferior group" of eco-friendly consumption behavior(cluster II), and "The Excellent Group" of eco-friendly consumption behavior(cluster III). 2) The differences in the general characteristics among the three clusters were founded on the experience of green consumption information and sources of information. 3) The characteristics of cluster I(The Middle Group) were(are) found to be eco-conscious, and aware of the consequences of behaviors, green market conditions and environmental issues. This cluster was the middle-average group. The characteristics of cluster III(The Excellent Group) were(are) found to have the willingness to pay additional costs, being aware of the social norms of the reference group, having an awareness of eco-institutional conditions, being knowledgeable about environmental policy, and finally, being personally involved in green consumption behavior. This cluster was the high-average group, whereas cluster II(The Inferior Group) was the low-average group.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.1-17
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• 2023

This study examined the relationship between family-friendly community characteristics and the life satisfaction of working mothers with elementary school children, and investigated whether the relationship was mediated by work-family conflict and facilitation of working mothers. For the analysis, the study used the response data of 627 working mothers from the 11th wave of the Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC, 2019) and multi-mediation effect analyses were conducted using PROCESS. The main results are as follows. First, the higher neighbor support, the higher the work-family facilitation, which significantly increased life satisfaction. Second, the appropriateness of parenting environment and community service infrastructure satisfaction showed significant indirect effects with life satisfaction through increasing work-family facilitation and lowering work-family conflict. Moreover, the appropriateness of parenting environment was positively related with life satisfaction and it was a only variable that was directly associated with life satisfaction. On the other hand, the convenient access to community service infrastructure was found to lower work-family facilitation and lower life satisfaction, confirming the need for follow-up studies. This study shows that the family-friendly characteristics of the community are important for working mothers with elementary school-age children and provides empirical evidence to improve the family-friendly community characteristics.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.396-407
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• 2023

Background: This study investigated the awareness and utilization of maternity protection and work-family balance support policies among dental hygienists in dental hospitals and clinics. Methods: We surveyed 200 dental hygienists. Twenty-two who did not meet the inclusion criteria were excluded, leaving 178 participants for analysis. The self-administered 48-item questionnaire gathered information on demographics, workplace details, policy awareness, government knowledge, and suggestions for improvement. Results: Awareness of maternity and family support programs significantly differed with age, marital status, number of children, and clinical experience. Dental hygienists in general hospitals and university hospitals reported greater ease of utilizing these policies compared to those in dental clinics. Among the participants, 27.7% took pre- and post-maternity leave, 26.6% took parental leave, 16.9% had reduced working hours during pregnancy, 15.8% had reduced working hours during childhood,and 8.5% during family leave. To promote program uptake, participants suggested mandatory implementation across workplaces (68.4%), expanded support for substitute workers (48.6%), and increased education and promotion of government support (42.4%). Conclusion: While most dental hygienists were aware of the Maternity Protection and Work-Family Balance Assistance Policy, utilizing it proved challenging due to several factors. Organizational policies or practices may not fully implement this policy, while workplace culture could discourage its use. Unfair treatment and the lack of available substitutes further hindered access. To prevent career interruptions for dental hygienists due to pregnancy, childbirth, childcare, and family care, and to maintain career continuity, the dental community and government should establish a multifaceted social support system. This system should prioritize several key areas: strengthening policy promotion, fostering a family-friendly atmosphere, improving management and supervision of policy implementation and developing a robust support system for substitute personnel.