• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.13-26
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• 1975

Seven aspects of attitude toward marriage in Korea are examined to better understand present and future marriage patterns. Also, various facets of current marriage practice are compared with attitudes. The study comprises three groups of roughly 600 women each, selected by random sampling from a rural, an urban, and a semi-urban area. A carefully designed and pretested questionnaire was checked for reliability by a reinterview in a 15% subsample. The great majority of Korean women support traditional attitudes that one must or should marry. The small group who recommend that one should not marry are mostly the very young or the never married, whose attitudes still may change. However, there are important and probably predictive shifts in favor of more individual decision, especially among the better educated, the young, and the more urban. Traditional reasons for marriage such as "custom" and procreation are ranked first by a majority, but there is a large shift to more contemporary or liberal desire for companionship and love, also primarily among the better educated, the urban, the young, and the never married. The traditional attitude that parents should have the sole or major role in mate selection is still held by a bare majority; the educated, urban, young, and never married are more liberal. Only 6% opt for each of the two extremes: That the parent alone or the respondent alone should decide. The remainder prefer one of the two middle-of-the-road positions where parent and child together decide. The proportions of respondents who classed specified criteria as moat important for selecting a husband, arranging the criteria in order from traditional to contemporary were: Lineage, etc., 23%; personal attributes, 40%; health and education, 27%; and love, 10%. The changing attitudes are suggested by the fact that love was ranked first by only 3% of the poorly educated rural poulation versus 23% of urban college level and 31% of the urban never married. There has been a substantial rise in the ideal age of marriage over the past twelve or more years, but there also is evidence that the ideal age is at or near a ceiling. Knowledge about legal age of marriage is minimal; the implications of this for proposed legislation are discussed. Three-fifthes to four-fifths of all respondents married husbands of the same religious, residential, and economic backgrounds as themselves. Almost all of them married men of the same or higher educational level. These evidences of traditional influences in mate selection are contrasted with the low priority given some of those items in earlier questions on reasons for marriage and criterion for selecting husband. Contrary to the expressed attitudes as to who should select the husband, we find that marriages of the study sample were stated to be arranged by parents alone in 62%; and in another 23%, the parents made the decision but asked the respondent's views. Such arrangements were most frequent among the rural, the less educated, and the older respondents and less common in the urban and more educated. The implications of these and related findings are discussed.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.63-79
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that influence the willingness to marriage initiation(WMI) among the never married in their 30s. In particular, we examine the effect of financial resources on the WMI. A data set from the National Survey of Marriage and Childbirth (2009 Wave) were analyzed. We find that the effect of financial resources on the WMI are different by gender. Home ownership is a statistically significant factor in the logistic regression model for men, but not in the model for women. Women with higher earnings are more likely to be single and unemployed men are more likely to be single than employed men. In the Korean societal contexts, these findings support the bi-standard of financial resources between male and female in the marriage market.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.139-155
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• 1999

This study was performed to assess the practice behavior and the need for cancer screening in order to design the community projects in Suwon city. A random sample of urban married women was surveyed on knowledge, attitude, and practice of breast and cervical cancer screening by telephone from April 28th to May 19th. Four hundred two married women completed the questionnaire, and the results were as follows: 1. Urban women were not generally knowledgeable about symptoms, signs and etiology of breast and cervical cancer. Only 11.4% of respondents were fully aware of those subjects. 2. Two hundred eighty six repondents(71.1%) reported having had a mammogram or Pap smear, while 116 respondents(28.9%) reported never having had a mammogram nor Pap smear. 3. The rate of mammogram increased by age and income status significantly(p〈0.05). 4. The majority(73.1%) of women who had a mammogram reported that it was part of a routine physical examination and another 24.3% of the women reported that they had a mammogram for specific breast problems. Meanwhile, the reasons reported for never having a mammogram were as follows; never had any problems (72.1%), no chance(11.2%), no time(4.3%). 5. The main factors associated with adherence to mammography screening guidelines was monthly income status. 6. The majority(80.6%) of women who had a Pap smear reported that it was part of a routine physical examination and another 16.0% of the women reported that it was part of a routine physical examination and another 16.0% of the women reported that they had a Pap smear for specific uterus problems. Meanwhile, the reasons reported for never having a Pap smear were: never had any problems(69.0%) and no chance(11.5%) 7. Women with higher income status were most likely to have a Pap smear regularly (p〈0.01), and the rate of Pap smear increased by education level significantly(p〈0.05). The main factors associated with adherence to Pap smear screening guidelines were education level and monthly income status, similar to those of mammograph. These findings indicate that married women in Suwon city show a lower rate of breast and cervical cancer screening practice than that of developed countries. The rate of mammograph was especially low. It is, therefore, suggested that cost, environmental factors, process, and information for screening tests be considered more programmatically before designing a community project for breast and cervical cancer screening.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.77-100
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• 2008

This study explores the implications of increasing cohabitation for the Korean family, by comparing the characteristics of cohabiters with those of married couples and of never-married and divorced people. Data are from the Marriage Registration Files for the years of 1997 through 2005 and Social Statistics Survey conducted in 2006. Results from descriptive statistics and logit analysis generally confirm the predictions of the western literature. First, cohabitation is part of overall changes in the family system. Cohabitation is more prevalent among the previously married than among the never married. Second, the socioeconomic status of cohabiting men is lower than that of married men. Third, according to spouses' employment status, educational levels, and age differences, gender roles are more egalitarian among cohabiting couples than among married couples. The finding that cohabiter characteristics are not similar to those of married couples seems to suggest that cohabitation does not simply represent a trial of marriage out of caution, unlike what most media articles assume. Instead, cohabitation may signify some unconventional circumstances forcing the couple to choose it as an alternative to marriage even temporarily. This and other conjectures discussed in this paper need to be reexamined with more rigorous data, as increasing trend of cohabitation seems to be inevitable in the coming years.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.255-265
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• 2010

Purpose: This study's aim was to investigate participation in Pap smear screening among married immigrant women and their behavior and its related factors. Methods: A survey was conducted among 165 married immigrant women in Gyeongsangnam-do from January 1 to March 20, 2010. Results: Results in this study showed that 51.5% have never participated in Pap Smear screening. Among those who have participated in the Pap Smear screening, 10.9% had regular screening, while 37.6% had irregular screening. Pap smear screening behavior was significantly different according to the experiences in health checkup ($x^2$=34.009, p<.001)', whether or not there was a hospital the woman regularly visited ($x^2$=7.768, p=.021) and perceived barriers (F=3.214, p=.043). Conclusion: For improvement of Pap smear participation, this study proposes to develop various nursing intervention programs which can improve perceived barriers in regards to the related variables. In addition, it is necessary to come up with a strategy to advertise the participation in Pap smear screening in a systematic and continuous manner in order to raise womens' awareness and to make married immigrant women realize the importance of regular Pap smear screenings.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.57-70
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• 2006

Patterns and changes of marriage have drawn much attention as they have been pointed out a key factor of low fertility. Nonetheless, systematic studies on marriage have been quite limited. This study, using recent nationwide survey on marriage and fertility, attempts to explain whether and how intention of marriage would differ between never married men and never married women. The logit regression analysis reveals that the likelihood of planning marriage between both sexes are still different even after controlling demographic characteristics, economic status, household and family background, and attitudes toward sex and premarital cohabitation. Furthermore, important factors affecting the likelihood of planning marriage turns out to be different between men and women. For instance, men with a job is more likely than men without a job to plan marriage. However, for women, the effect of having a job is not found. Such result, with other sex differential effects of living arrangement and attitudinal variable, suggests that the mechanism through which men and women transit from singlehood to marriage would differ. More attention on gender differential should be paid in developing conceptual arguments and conducting empirical analysis regarding marriage and its related topics.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.1-21
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• 1989

For the analysis of mortality differentials by socioeconomic factors based on death registration data, we have considered four variables : place of residence, educational attainment, marital status and occupation. The age range adopted were 5 to 64 years of age for place of residence, and 25 to 64 years of age for the other factors. The mortality differentials by socioeconomic variables were clear and in the expected direction: mortality levels among urban residents, better educated groups, and non- agricultural workers were lower than among the other sub- groups. The average mortality level in rural areas is much higher than in urban areas : the rural mortality levels were at least double the urban levels at ages below 40 years, but became smaller after age 40, and no clear differentials by urban I rural residence increased until 1974~76 for the both sexes, but since the then differentials have declined slowley for both sexes. This changing pattern of mortality differentials by place of residence can be explained by historical socioeconomic development : the development generally started in urban areas, and rural areas followed : in the course of socioeconomic development the differences between the death rates in the two areas became smaller and finally the mortality levels in the two areas became nearly the same, as is found in the developed countries nowadays. The inverse relationships between mortality and educational level became stronger between the periods 1970~72 and 1984~86, but showed the same atterns of mortality differentials in both period : larger differences among the younger age groups, and for males, than among the older age groups, and for females. The increasing mortality differentials in the fourteen-year period between 1970~72 and 1984~86 were caused by inadequate living standards of the non- educated, whose proportion in the total population, however, dropped sharply during that period. Also, the much lower proportions of low - educated groups or of persons with no formal education among males than females helped to establish the clearly pronounced differentials. The mortality differentials by marital status in Korea showed the usual pattern : the mortality rates of the married in each age and sex group were clearly lower than those of others during the fourteen-year period between 1970~72 and 1984~86. In Korean society which remotes universal marriage, the never married recorded especially high death rates, presumably mainly because of ill - health, but also possibly because of the stigma attached to celibacy. However, the mortality differentials by marital status changed with the changes in the proportionate distribution by marital status during the period : the differences between the death rates of the married and never married groups became smaller, the proportion of the never married group increased : in contrast, the differences between mortalities of the married and widowed / divorced / separated groups widened, with the decrease in the proportion of the later group ; this tendency was perticularly marked for females. Occupational groups also showed clear mortality differences : among four occupational groups mortality of males was highest among agricultural workers and lowest among 'professional, admi-nistrative and clerical workers, However, when the death rates were standardized by educational level, the death rates by occupation in age group 45~64 years were nearly the same (excet for the mixed group consisting of unemployed, students, military servicemen and unknown). Therefore, the clear mortality dfferentials by occupation in Korea resulted mainly from the differences in educational level between different occupation groups. Since socioeconomic characteristics are related to each other, the net effect of each variable was examined. Each of the three variables - ducational level, marital status and urban / rural residence affected significantly Korean adult mortality when the effects of the other variables were controlled. Among the three variables educational level was the most important factor for the determination of the adult mortality level. When male's occupation was added to the above three variables, the effects of occupation on adult mortality were notably smaller after control for the effects of the other three variables while the net effects of these three variables were nearly the same irrespectively whether occupation was included or not. Thus, the differences in educational level (mainly), place of residence and marital status bring out the clear differences in observed mortality levels by occupation.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.74-83
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• 2015

Objectives: To examine the sex-specific factors associated with being unaware of one's hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) seropositivity status in a large, HBsAg-positive population of Koreans. Methods: In total, 1197 subjects aged 19 years or older who were HBsAg-positive according to data from the 2007-2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were included. Subjects were considered unaware of their HBsAg seropositivity status if they answered that they had no knowledge of being previously infected by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) or diagnosed with HBV hepatitis. Multivariate Poisson regression models with robust variance estimate were used to assess the significance of the variables using weighted frequencies. Results: The majority (77.8%) of HbsAg-positive Korean adults (females, 81.9%; males, 74.6%) were unaware of their HBsAg seropositivity status. We found that sex (female: prevalence ratio [PR] 1.19), household income (low: PR, 1.15), marital status (never married: PR, 1.18), self-rated health (moderate: PR, 1.14; good: PR, 1.12), and alcohol use (at least 2-3 times/wk: PR, 1.21) were associated with being unaware. In females, age (50 to 59 years: PR, 1.29; ${\geq}70$ years: PR, 1.30), household income (low: PR, 1.37; middle-low: PR, 1.24), and marital status (never married: PR, 1.33) were associated with being unaware. In males, self-rated health (moderate: PR, 1.14; good: PR, 1.21) and alcohol use (at least 2-3 times/wk: PR, 1.21) were associated with being unaware. Conclusions: Factors related to the socioeconomic status of females and the health-related behaviors of males were found to be associated with being unaware of one's HBsAg seropositivity status.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.185-195
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• 2002

This study examined the psychological aspects of a single life with particular focus on the personality ＆ emotional characteristics, the social ＆ behavioral characteristics, marriage, happiness, and sex of singles. The sample consisted of 160 single male and female aged 30 to 49. The results of the questionnaire survey showed that the singles tended to be self-centered, especially when they did not have a plan to get married, and that most of the singles in the 30s wanted to have a friend of the other sex. In the view of marriage, young, male singles were more likely to form a family than old, female singles. Also, female singles, bereaved or divorced, were shown to have fear about marriage and negative attitudes toward marriage more than male, never-married singles did. Regarding the extent of happiness, old, female (rather than young, male) singles tended to be more satisfied with a single life. Besides, old, religious singles were less likely to feel lonely than young, unreligious singles. In addition, it appeared that college-graduated singles had rather liberal view on sex although singles generally showed rather conservative toward sex in this study. Therefore, the findings reveal that singles were self-centered, social, positive view on marriage, somewhat happy of a single life, and having a conservative attitude about sex. Further understanding of a single life in modem society is needed in future studies.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.183-194
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine how sociodemographic status, family-related influences, and perceived future economic prospects were associated with the possibility of getting married and having children in a sample of 607 single young Korean adults. The sample comprised unmarried men and women in their 20s and 30s taken from the 2021 Seoul Family Report survey, and descriptive statistical and multiple regression analyses were conducted on the data. The results indicated that age, non-traditional marriage/childbearing values, parents' marital relationship during childhood, and the prospect of having a stable job and owning a home were significantly related to the possibility of marriage. With regard to the possibility of having children, a significant relationship was found with age, level of education, non-traditional marriage/childbearing values, recognition of the importance of family, parents' marital relationship during childhood, and the prospect of having a stable job and owning a home. The study also examined the importance of policies that make the possibility of marriage and having children more appealing to young unmarried adults in Korea by providing a positive outlook for the economy, a sense of stability, and a supportive approach to the value of having a family.