TOPICS
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Recent changes in Korean families: demographic, social and cultural perspective
Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
Editor:
Year: 00/00/2006
Abstract: This paper deals with recent changes in Korean families from diverse perspectives. Demographic conditions affecting family structure and family life in contemporary Korean society can be characterized as lowest-low fertility and speeding aging. Fertility in Korea drastically dropped to 1.08 of total fertility rate in 2005, one of the lowest records in the world. On the other hand, as a result of lowering fertility in part, aging has been proceeding too rapidly to adapt to new social environment. If aging continues with the current speed, it is easily predicted that Korean people will face financially unprecedented burden to support elderly within a short time. Lowest-low fertility and rapid aging have been clearly observed since the 1997 economic crisis in Korean society. In my view, Korean society has become an absolutely different society from that before the economic crisis. Not only social structure but also individual attitudes and behaviors and familial life had to be under restructuration right after the economic crisis. Thus, the economic crisis has to be regarded as a critical factor in recent family changes in Korea. Educational attainment for female has been expanded and comparable works for women have been increased. Thus, women had to have difficulties in finding marriageable men after the economic crisis. This has led to increasing age at first birth for both men and women, in other word delay marriage and family formation. Korean family has shown several new features in the late 1990s and early 2000s. One is the decreasing family formation. Another is increasing remarriage in Korea. Remarriage, in particular women's remarriage was negatively stigmatized according to a Confucian legacy to prohibit women's remarriage in traditional times. This custom has been remained for a long time. However, increasing divorce not only at younger ages but at middle and older ages has widened the possibility of remarriage for both men and women. Tolerance toward remarriage at the societal level has also greatly increased according to various family surveys. Even first-time marriage by men has been made with divorced or bereaved women. Another feature in contemporary marriage in Korea is a soaring international or interracial marriage, especially for Korean men. Single men in rural area have had so many difficulties in finding marriage partner because Korean women would not like to marry farmers or men residing in rural area. Under the shortage of marriageable women, rural men began to seek foreign bride, firstly from China and then Vietnam these day. Thus, more than one to ten marriages are now an interracial marriage in Korea. Changing demographic and familial conditions results in small size of family in Korea. The average number of household members is now less than three. On the other hand, one-person household is remarkably increasing in both urban and rural areas because of increasing divorce, deepening aging and increasing number of the female bereaved, and wide pursuit of independent life by younger generation. Also, with this trend, the proportion of female head of household is steadily increasing. However, female household heads are more suffering from poverty than male counterparts because of sex-discriminatory labor market, lack of women-friendly welfare policy and dual burden by the traditional patriarchal family system.
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Fertility transition in Asia in relation to family and population aging
Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
Editor:
Year: 00/00/2006
Abstract: Declining fertility and increasing longevity have brought about remarkable shifts in the age structure of the population. Europe, Northern America and Australia/New Zealand initially experienced one of such inevitable demographic events, that is population aging. While the transition from the young-age population to the aging population occurred over a much longer period in the West, the speed of aging is much faster in low-fertility countries of Asia. This has now emerged as a new issue challenging many low-fertility countries in Asia, as it has implications for the family and caring for the older persons. This paper provides a general overview of the fertility transition in Asia and factors affecting the fertility decline. Focusing on low-fertility countries in Asia, the paper highlights the implications of low fertility on population aging. Various indicators of population aging, such as the changes in age structure, potential support ratio and feminization of the elderly population, are presented for a better understanding of the overall situation. Comparisons are made with Europe, Northern America and Australia/New Zealand to put forward the magnitude of the challenge. As the Asian region contains over 60 percents of the global population and has experienced a rapid decline in fertility, the absolute size of the older population is a major concern. While the overall population growth rate has been declining over time, the number of older persons is increasing at a rate at least twice as high. In addition to the increase in older persons, a gender disparity in the improvements in the life expectancy at birth is likely to be illiterate and living in poverty. Providing family support, health care and financial security are some of the contentious issues aging societies will face. There have been discussions concerning the possibility of increasing fertility in countries with below replacement fertility. It is, therefore, crucial for governments to plan for an aging society long before fertility reaches a very low level. Meanwhile, it is important for Asian countries to recognize the significance of aging problems and start formulating policies for the elderly given that it takes several decades for government old-age pension insurance schemes to mature and operate at full scale. It would be more difficult for families to care for their older members because families would be smaller, people would live longer and the migration of young adults would mean that families would fragment. the present trends present a major challenge to address the needs of families. It is, therefore, important to consider the present trends in designing social policies, put the family at the centre of any future social policy development and examine good national practices when designing a new approach to family policies.
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Delayed marriage and the fertility crisis in East and Southeast Asia
Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
Editor:
Year: 00/00/2006
Abstract: The fertility transition in Asian Countries is part of the worldwide fertility transition and one of the most fundamental events of the last half of the 20th century. In general, this has been associated with greatly increased child survival and changes in the economy and society resulting from economic development. But there have been puzzling differences between countries. The fertility crisis used to refer to the countries with high fertility but now attention has shifted to those with very low fertility, a number of which are in Asia.
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Emerging role of daughters in the context of new challenges and opportunities of maintaining family system
Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
Editor:
Year: 00/00/2006
Abstract: My paper is based upon a long term study of the role of educated working women in the maintenance and revitatlisation of the institution of family in India in the urban settings in the era of modernisation. The institution of family has been stressed due to the pressures of nuclearisation and/or downward mobility in urban India. It is more pronounced among the lower-middle and middle classes where the women belonging to these sections are making large scale entry into the spheres of modern education and age employment. It has affected the norms about marriage and family in many ways for women including increase in the age at marriage and remaining unmarried due to the imperatives of career of family responsibilities. But my study has resulted into the conclusion that there is increasing visibility of 'daughter supported families' where the working daughters are performing a) central, b) crucial, and c) useful role in maintenance of the family system inspite of their remaining unmarried. This is a significant change where failure of patrilineality is duly compensated by the constructive role of unmarried working daughters in the continuity of family system.
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Protecting and strengthening the family through National Family Planning Programme: Indonesia's experience
Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
Editor:
Year: 00/00/2006
Abstract: Indonesia, similar to other countries in the region, has been experiencing problems that threaten family cohesiveness, such as: poverty, prolonged socio-economic crisis, modernization and globalization. If not addressed adequately these threats to family cohesiveness will also be potential threat to the development of human resources in Indonesia. Thus protecting the family becomes an important aspects for the development of the nation, requiring contribution of three major parties, namely: government commitment; family motivation; and community support. The paper examines the Indonesian government's efforts to protect and strengthen families through the national family planning program. The Indonesia's family Planning program was established in early 1970. After the ICPD 1994, the program has expanded its mission and dealt not only with contraceptive services and family welfare but also other aspects of reproductive health and reproductive rights as well, shifting its vision to become quality family, instead of small and happy family. High commitment of the Government towards promoting Family Planning and Welfare is expressed through legal policy aspects and the programmatic interventions.
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The development of antisocial behaviour in adolescence: child,family, peer and school influences
Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
Editor:
Year: 00/00/2006
Abstract: This paper focuses on pathways to antisocial behaviour in adolescence, as well as resilience against antisocial behaviour, with particular attention being given to family influences on these pathways. Findings are presented from an ongoing, 23-year longitudinal study that has followed a large sample of Australian children from infancy to early adulthood thus far. Some of the important messages emerging from the three large reports completed between 2002 and 2005 are discussed, including: there is not one single pathway to antisocial behaviour, rather there are multiple pathways that can begin in childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood. Many children seem to embark on problematic pathways early in life, but there is considerable change at key transition points; the detection of sensitive periods of change can provide opportunities to intervene to help children move off problematic pathways; many at-risk children are resilient to the development of antisocial behaviour and we can learn from them what supports are needed; and finally, particular parenting styles can ameliorate or amplify the influence of child characteristics on antisocial behaviour.
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Protecting and strengthening the family: challenges and opportunies
Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
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Year: 00/00/2006
Abstract: Findings from the Malaysian Population and Family Survey 2004. Perceptions of relationships among family members found that as many as 98.5% of women said they had good family relationships comprising 99% Malays, 98% Chinese and 95% Indians. A total of 99% of men also stated that they have good family relationships, namely 99.2% Malays, 98.0% Chinese and 98.2% Indians. Meanwhile, 99.3% of women who did not have financial problems stated that they had good family relationships compared to 98.3% who had financial problems.
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Interaction among family members: a Malaysian case study
Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
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Year: 00/00/2006
Abstract: The perceived relationship among family members are 98.5% of women said that they have good family relationship while 99% of men said the same. Meanwhile, 99.3% of women who did not have financial difficulty stated that they have good family relationship compared to those who have financial difficulty represented by 98.3%.
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Population, poverty and HIV/Aids
Item Type: Newsletter
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Year: 00/07/2005
Abstract: By June 2004, the cumulative number of HIV infections was 60,621 with 8,840 cases of AIDS and 6,523 deaths. The main mode of transmission is intravenous drug use followed by heterosexual transmission. The HIV infection rate is highest among young adults aged 20-39 years while the proportion of women infected with HIV is also increasing. In this regard, more than 40 percent of those infected with HIV are fishermen and odd job workers, the occupation sectors that are often associated with those living in poverty. The major challenge for Malaysia is to increase the geographical coverage of HIV/AIDS-related services and their reach especially to vulnerable populations and those living in poverty.
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The 38th session of the Commission on Population and Development on agenda item 5: general debate on national experience in population matters: population, development and HIV/AIDS with particular emphasis on poverty, New York, 5 April 2005
Item Type: Country Statement
Editor:
Year: 05/04/2005
Abstract: The Government of Malaysia acknowledges the vast impact of the HIV epidemic on the demographic profile of the country. It affects population growth, distribution and structure. It impacts upon widowhood with the concomitant increase in orphans among children and in the reduction of the reproductive years resulting in lower fertility.
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