• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.31-54
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• 2012

Along with increasing mothers' employment, work-family reconciliation has been recognised as a key policy agenda in contemporary welfare states. Although various policy instruments have been introduced and expanded in recent years, the problem of time allocation within couples still remains as a fundamental issue, which has been largely underresearched at a micro perspective. In this context, this study aims to identify dominant types of work-family time allocation within married couple, and to apply these types to the Korean case using the fuzzy-set ideal type analysis. Further, a series of multiple regression analyses will be implemented to find factors affecting each ideal type of work-family time allocation. The 1999 and 2009 Korea Time Use Survey datasets will be adopted for the analyses. Married couples are selected as samples only when men work 40 hours or more per week and they have at least one pre-school child. Empirical analyses cover three parts. First of all, four ideal types on work-family time allocation are classified by intersecting two core variables - the ratio of men's (paid) working and family (caring time plus domestic work) time to total working and family time. In this research, the four types will be labelled the traditional male breadwinner model (TM, high working and low family time), the dual burden model (DB, shared working but low family time), the family-friendly male breadwinner model (FM, high working but shared family time), and the adaptive partnership model (AP, shared working and shared family time). By comparing the composition of the four ideal types in 1999 and 2009, it will examine the trend of work-family time allocation in Korea. In addition, multiple regressions will be useful for investigating which characteristics contribute to the different degree of each fuzzy ideal score in the four models. Finally, policy implications and further research agenda will be discussed.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.75-95
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of relationship stress at work and family relationship stress on working men's depression in order to improve their mental health. Data were collected via questionnaire from 313 white-collar workers living in Seoul, Daejeon and Gwangju. There were significant differences in depression depending on age, spouse, age of child, family size and years of labor. There were positive correlations among depression, relationship stress at work and family relationship stress. The family relationship stress was the most influential factor on depression, followed by relationship stress at work. Family relationship stress had a mediating effect on depression and relationship stress at work. These results showed that employers should manage depression of workers in a family friendly way to reduce the stress in relationship at work and home such as work and family balance policy.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.39-57
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to resolve the factors that affect happiness levels and l Considering the increasing importance of maintaining and developing the careers of working mothers, this study sought to analyze the effect of the meaning of work (MOW) and child-based self-worth (CBSW) on the work-family interface and career commitment. This is the first exploratory study to examine MOW and CBSW as resources for working mothers. For 10 days, starting August 18, 2020, 309 working mothers were asked to complete a questionnaire commissioned by a professional research institute, and 250 valid samples were then analyzed. The analysis found, first, that MOW had statistically significant positive effects on work-family enrichment and family-work enrichment and a negative effect on work-family conflict. Second, CBSW had a positive effect on work-family and family-work conflicts. Third, work-family enrichment had a positive effect on career commitment, while work-family conflict had a negative effect on career commitment. Finally, the mediation effects of the three paths were determined: MOW→work-family enrichment→career commitment; MOW→family-work enrichment→career commitment; CBSW→work-family conflict→career commitment. These results suggest that, to better manage the career commitment of working mothers, attention should be paid to the MOW, CBSW, and work-family interface.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.151-166
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• 2014

This study attempted to explore how middle aged married men and women prospected a Centenarian society and what implications their prospect cast for family policy. We conducted focus group interviews with five groups in order to identify their subjective prospects on marital relations, parent-child relations, caregiving from family or institutions, and alternative living arrangement. From those interviews, we found that married men and women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s possessed ambivalent attitudes toward their marital relationship, either acknowledging an importance of marital relationship or accepting long-standing disrespectful marital relationship. They also had a dualistic perspective on parent-child relationship, accepting parental responsibility for children and even grand-children but maintaining low expectations for children. What they needed was age appropriate opportunities for work or leisure and better community services and facilities. These results showed that the middle-aged was concerned experiencing unprecedented family situations. They needed family life education and services in order to adapt to the Centenarian society. Since family policy has viewed this age group out of service target, programs and services have been underdeveloped for this group. Expecting a Centenarian society however, we need to expand the boundary of family policy and take a new perspective. We need to develop and implement marital education programs, community-based self-care services, and age-appropriated opportunities for work, leisure, and social relations.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.81-101
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to examine support policies regarding work and family reconciliation, to suggest plans to improve workplace policies, and to suggest directions for further studies. This study looks at OECD's work-life reconciliation policies as well as family friendly workplace policies in Korea to find a way to enhance business' receptiveness and implementation of the policies. By examining women's labor conditions, this study finds that family friendly workplace policies are necessarily imminent in our society of low fertility and ageing. Along with the evaluation of benefit level and the effectiveness of current policies, this study uses data from interviews with working mothers who have had the experience of family friendly benefits. The results of the analyses suggest that the government should focus on improving the workplace environment in companies that do not show bias against the use of family friendly policies. In order to farm more successful policies, future studies are needed to analyze the changes of fertility, working conditions, support programs, and benefits.

• Journal of Family Relations
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.87-109
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• 2017

Objectives: While employed mothers' use of maternity and parental leave has increased, the contexts that facilitate or hinder mothers' leave policy use have been under examined. The purpose of this study was to explore mothers' experiences of using maternity and parental leave. Method: Twenty-two mothers with young child under age three participated in this study. Results: All 22 mothers used maternity leave and 12 mothers used parental leave. Three main themes were identified: different experiences of maternity leave, experiences of parental leave, and skepticism about the leave policy but with some hope that it will improve. Regarding the mothers' experiences of maternity leave, the mothers thought that maternity leave was easily accessible but some mothers still felt guilty for using maternity leave. They also prepared for their work gap before the leave to avoid harming their colleagues. Accessibility to parental leave varied according to the characteristics of the organizations (i.e., family-friendly organization culture, supportive supervisor) and family contexts (i.e., availability of child care from family members, financial issues). The mothers perceived that while parental leave helps working mothers coordinate their family and work life, it is not as accessible as maternity leave in Korea. They suggested extending the maternity leave duration and improving accessibility to parental leave. Conclusions: These findings suggest that policy support is warranted to help employed mothers with young children remain in the workforce. This study also has implications for supporting employed mothers' work and family life.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.191-207
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to analyze the education policies for work-family balance in Korea. Data were collected from homepages of elementary schools(n=196). The major analysis was performed through the following 4 subjects, parent-teacher association, after-school programs, holidays on every alternate Saturday, arbitrary no school days. Based on the results, the policy implications on social investment policies were discussed : To promote work-family balance, family-friendly culture in workplaces as well as schools should be established that develop childcare system for working parents. The linkages between educational system and work system will contribute to parents' rights in Korea.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.151-171
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between family-friendly policies in working places and the childbearing intentions of married-employed women. The analysis included 415 married working women from the 2012 wave of the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Family. The factors influencing the childbearing intentions of the women were age, education, number of children under age 18, childbirth leave, childcare facilities, and flextime. The women whose work-places provided childbirth leave had stronger childbearing intentions. The women under age 35 had stronger childbearing intentions when their work-places had flextime policies. In conclusion, my recommendation is that the government should pay more attention to the micro-personal factors, such as the Family-friendly Workplace Practices proposed in this study, when executing policies to reverse the current trend of low fertility.

• Korean Journal of Family Social Work
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• no.58
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• pp.123-150
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to examine the mediated moderating effect of resilience in the relationships among job stress, work-family conflict, and depression of female low-wage workers. For this purpose, a total of 190 female workers with monthly wage of less than two million won were analyzed. The results showed that the mediated effect of work-family conflict in the relationships between job stress and depression, and the mediated moderating effect of resilience. Thus, policy makers and practitioners should develop mental health program alleviating job stress and depression among female low-wage workers, enhance family-friendly policy and program necessary for work family balance, furthermore, develop occupational welfare program to promote resilience.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.23 no.6 s.78
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• pp.105-116
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• 2005

This study investigated various alternatives for childcare among dual-earner families and discussed implications for public policy development. Eight employed married women and two of their husbands were interviewed about work-family balance. All the interviewees complained that taking cue of the children in dual-earner families is a challenge. They resort to all available alternatives because public childcare support is insufficient and inadequate. There were five different types chilcare: extended family network, public and private institutions, paid help (nannies), rearranging work schedules, and training their children to take cue of themselves. However, all these alternatives entail various problems. More and better childcare facilities and programs should be built and after-school programs should be designed. On the other hand, parents should also make more effort to prioritize children's needs in finding a balance between work and family.