The Problem Group? Emotional Well-being of Unmarried One-person Households in South Korea

• In Event: 054 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Families and Health

Abstract

Unmarried one-person households in young adulthood have increased rapidly since 2000 in Korea. It indicates changes not only in living arrangement but also in the very sociocultural structure of Korean society characterized with familism. This study examined how this new living arrangement is related to emotional wellbeing, measured by life satisfaction and experience of suicidal thoughts, of young adults aged 25-39. Unmarried solo residents are assumed to have poor emotional wellbeing due to social isolation and as they deviate from traditional norms of mandatory marriage and family coresidence during singlehood. For young adults, however, living alone may not necessarily predict poor emotional wellbeing as it provides feeling of independence, an important developmental goal in young adulthood. Singlehood may not predict poor emotional wellbeing for young adults who do not have favorable attitudes towards marriage. Data from two waves of Korean Social Survey (2010 and 2012) was used. Results suggest that, for people with positive attitudes towards marriage, unmarried solo residents tend to have life satisfaction lower than married family coresidents but higher than unmarried family coresidents. For people with ambivalent or negative attitudes towards marriage, unmarried solo residents and married family coresidents have similar levels of life satisfaction, while unmarried family coresidents have the lowest life satisfaction. There is no difference in probabilities of having suicidal thoughts across marriage and living arrangements. This suggests that traditional norms of marriage and family coresidence may not reflect the needs of current young generations. Academic and social implications are discussed.

Author

• Jeong-Hwa Ho, Ajou University