Female breadwinners rise in stature in South Korea

South Koreans’ general views of breadwinning women have changed from pity to admiration since 2005, a government study showed Thursday.

According to a study released by the Gender Ministry, 52.9 percent of Koreans said this year that they admire female breadwinners for their capabilities, a significant increase from 32 percent in 2005.

Meanwhile, the number of those who said they doubted the women’s husbands – for possibly being financially incapable and making their wives support the family – dropped from 38.4 percent to 23.7 percent.

At the same time, the proportion of those who said they pitied such women also dropped from 10 percent to 6.4 percent in the same time period.

“Traditionally, Koreans have thought that women who have to financially support their families are unlucky,” said the ministry’s Lee Myung-eun.

“Most Koreans in the older generation used to think that a ‘happy and fortunate’ woman is someone who is married to a financially capable and caring men and raise children at home without having to worry about money. But the trend is certainly changing, as shown in the statistics.”

According to Statistics Korea, the proportion of households headed by women also increased significantly from 1990-2016, from 15.7 percent to 28.9 percent.

The government agency predicts that such households will account for 34 percent of all Korean households by the year 2030.

“It’s because a large number of single women are starting to live on their own -- they are the heads of their single-person households -- and more women in their 40s and 50s are supporting their families, regardless of their marital status,” said an official from the Gender Ministry.

The changing perception also has to do with women’s high level of education in South Korea, according to the ministry. Last year, more girls (74.6 percent) enrolled in post-secondary education than boys (67.6 percent).

“I think Korea is starting to see capable women who actually want to work and succeed in their careers, whereas in the past working women were seen as people who were forced to work because of unfortunate circumstances such as poverty or incapable husbands,” said Gender Ministry official Choi Sung-ji.

“More Koreans think of working women who earn high salaries as people who are admirable, as many now know that their achievements are not easy to obtain, especially if they are also parents who have children to raise.”

In spite of such changing perceptions, gender disparity is still prevalent in Korean family life and the nation’s education system, the same study showed.

Among the 500 Korean school children surveyed for the study, 33 percent said their fathers spent most of their time at home watching TV. Also, 13.4 percent of them said their fathers were “always lying down on the sofa” when they are home, while 10.4 percent of them said their fathers are occupied with their cellphones or computers when spending time at home.

However, their responses were dramatically different when asked about their mothers’ daily activities at home. Twenty-seven percent of them said their mothers spent most of their time at home cooking, while 19.6 percent said their main job was caring for their children.

Meanwhile, 13.4 percent said their mothers spent a lot of time doing dishes in the kitchen, while 12.8 percent said their mothers were often occupied with laundry at home.

Also, 25.75 percent of the surveyed children said their teachers treat their students differently according to gender. Notably, 26.2 percent of male participants said male students receive harsher punishments than their female counterparts, while 24.6 percent of the female students said their teachers assume that most girls will not excel in physical education.

The study also showed that 39.8 percent of Korean school children, and 58.7 percent of Korean adults think gender disparity exists in Korea’s wedding culture and marriages.

Almost 70 percent of Korean adults, and 38.4 percent of the students, said the biggest gender disparity in wedding culture lies with the Korean custom that dictates that the family of the groom buys a house for the newlyweds.

Meanwhile, Korean schoolchildren had very different thoughts on what should be improved to combat gender disparity in married life. While 53.3 percent of the male students said men should no longer be fully responsible for financially supporting the family, only 9.3 percent of the female students thought it needed to change.

At the same time, while 49.2 percent of female students said women’s domestic chores should not be solely women’s responsibility, only 21 percent of the male students said the same.

By Claire Lee(dyc@heraldcorp.com)