Economic stress perception of farm households′ wives and related variables in Korea

농가 주부의 경제적 스트레스 지각수준과 관련 변수

The objectives of this study are : (1) to measure the level of economic stress perception in Korean farm households. (2) to identify the effects of related variables such as socio-demographic variables and economic stability. The data from 505 farm households' wives was analyzed using statistical methods such as frequency, correlation, oneway ANOVA, lease significant difference test, and stepwise multiple regression. The major findings are as follows : The mean value of economic stress perception on the 505 wives was 33.5 points out of a possible 100. Among 3 subsectors, income stress perception had highest score. Socio- demographic variables such as family size, type of farm household, financial manager, debt, credit . grant assistant, wife's age, and educational level of the wife had a significant difference on the economic stress perception of wives in the ANOVA analysis. So did the objective and subjective evaluation of economic stability. As a result of multiple regression analysis, economic stability, debt presence, and wife age were verified explaining 23% of the variance of economic stress perception. Therefore, it can be said that farm wives had relatively high economic stress perception in the case of low economic stability, getting into debt and low age.