Changing Family Structure and Its Implications for Social Inequality in a "Strong" Family Country: Single Parents and Their Children in South Korea Hyunjoon Park Sociology, University of Pennsylvania Jaesung Choi Economics, University of Pennsylvania

Family Contexts in Korea Changing family structure –Increasing international marriage (between a Korean man and a foreign woman) –Declining fertility –Rising divorce Weak welfare state; limited public support to families Implications of changing family structure for social inequality given the weak welfare state

Demography of Divorce Trends in divorce Socioeconomic and demographic determinants of divorce Living arrangements of divorced parents and their children Consequences of growing up with a divorced parent for children’s education and well-being Grandparents and children of divorced parents

Rising Divorce

Park & Raymo (2010)

Comparative Level of Divorce Park & Raymo (2010): cf. Andersson & Philipov (2001)

Educational Differentials in the Risk of Divorce Park & Raymo (2010)

Weak Welfare State: Social Spending on Family in Cash, Services and Tax Measures, in percentage of GDP, in 2001

Implications of Rising Divorce for Social Inequality Growing divorce, especially among the low educated Weak welfare state that provides only very limited public support to (single-parent) families Limited economic opportunity for Korean women Disparities in economic and social resources available for children from two-parent and single-parent families Growing potential of family structure as a mechanism of intergenerational transmission of advantage

But,,, We Have “Strong” Family Ties!! Family as an essential safety net for vulnerable members Reher (1988): priority of families over public institutions to help vulnerable family members in Southern European countries “Strong” family ties in Asia –strong families in Southern European societies as lying between weak families in northern Europe and North America and much stronger families in Asia (Reher 1998) –A study of grandparent co-residence and its impact on parent- child interaction in Japan (Raymo, Park, and Iwasawa 2010) But, is family still strong in contemporary Asia?

Our Research Questions Consequences of growing up with a single parent for children’s education in Korea Distinguishing single-mother and single-father families –Data do not allow distinguishing widowhood and divorce To what extent do children of single parents live with their grandparents? –If coresidence can be considered as an indicator of family ties Does co-residence with grandparents moderate negative relationship between single parenthood and children’s education?

Data and Variables Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 –From the international dataset of more than 60 countries, data for Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the US are extracted –Target population: 15-year-old students –Sample size: about 5,000 for Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and US Educational outcomes: standardized reading, math, and science test scores –Five plausible values for each test –Approximately mean = 500 points, standard deviation = 100 points among all OECD countries

Key Variables Current living arrangements of children: 6 groups –Two parents living with grandparents; without grandparents –Single mothers living with grandparents; without grandparents –Single fathers living with grandparents; without grandparents Socioeconomic background of students –Parental education –Number of books at home –Cultural possessions –Home educational resources

Methods Regression analysis of reading (math and science, separately) scores predicted by Model 1 (gross effect): living arrangements only Model 2 (net effect): Model 1 + Family SES

Living Arrangements of 15-Year-Old Students

% Students living with grandparents

Gross Differences from Two Parents_NO_GP in Reading Scores Two-Parents GP S-Mother NO_GP S-Mother GP S-Father NO_GP S-Father GP KOREA Two-Parents GP S-Mother NO_GP S-Mother GP S-Father NO_GP S-Father GP USA

Differences from Two Parents_NO_GP in Reading Scores Two-Parents GP S-Mother NO_GP S-Mother GP S-Father NO_GP S-Father GP KOREA Two-Parents GP S-Mother NO_GP S-Mother GP S-Father NO_GP S-Father GP USA

Gross Differences from Two Parents_NO_GP in Reading Scores Two-Parents GP S-Mother NO_GP S-Mother GP S-Father NO_GP S-Father GP Two-Parents GP S-Mother NO_GP S-Mother GP S-Father NO_GP S-Father GP TaiwanJapan

Differences from Two Parents_NO_GP in Reading Scores Two-Parents GP S-Mother NO_GP S-Mother GP S-Father NO_GP S-Father GP Two-Parents GP S-Mother NO_GP S-Mother GP S-Father NO_GP S-Father GP Taiwan Japan

Major Findings Relatively smaller gaps in test scores by family structure in Korea (Taiwan and Japan as well) than in the US, once family SES is taken into account However, gross disadvantages associated with single fatherhood are substantial in Korea (Taiwan and Japan) Not strong evidence of differences between single- parent families with grandparents and without grandparents in Korea (and US) Some evidence of benefits of living with grandparents particularly among single-father families in Taiwan and Japan

Issues The considerably low level of coresidence with their parents among Korean single mothers (whose child is 15-year old) What do family ties mean to single mothers? –Do they receive other kinds of support from their parents even if not living together? –Do single mothers prefer less direct relationships with their parents? How do we analyze the effect of grandparents on children’s education? –Selection –Measurement of coresidence (duration) –Longitudinal information on living arrangements and children’s educational outcomes