Support for adult children weaker in Korea than elsewhere: survey

Nearly 6 out of 10 South Korean parents favor their children having high-paying professions such as law or medicine, a report showed Monday. Jobs in art, athletes, media, teachers and technicians follow.

According to a report on the private education of infants by Korea Institute of Child Care and Education, 58.7 percent of the 316 mothers and fathers with 2- to 5-year-old children in Seoul surveyed said they preferred their children to enter elite professions. 

The survey showed 10.9 percent answering art professionals, athletes and celebrities, 9.9 percent favoring school teaching, and 8 percent saying professional office workers and technicians.

The report showed specialized professions were also the most favored in other countries as well. The same poll was conducted among 300 parents each in Tokyo, Taipei and Helsinki.

But it was more common for parents in other countries to recognize the importance of providing emotional support for their adult children. Korean parents tended to view that their role in providing emotional help should end when children become independent.

Over 90 percent of the respondents in Finland, the US and Taiwan said they would support their children emotionally for their entire lives, while 63.8 percent said so in Japan. In South Korea, only 48.4 percent said they would emotionally support their children for life, while 18.4 percent said they will do so until marriage and 12 percent until graduation.

Among the Korean respondents, 47.5 percent said they would provide financial assistance to their kids until they graduate university, whereas 19.3 percent said until the children found employment. Only 1.3 percent answered they would support their children financially for their whole life, similar to 2.5 percent in Japan, and 5.6 percent in Taiwan.

In the US and Finland, the figure stood at a higher rate, at 23.2 percent and 25.5 percent respectively.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)