상명가족아동상담연구소

부모-비혼 성인자녀 관계의 재조명 : 동거 및 경제적 의존 여부에 따른 집단별 특성 차이를 중심으로

Elderly Parents-Unmarried Adult Children Relationships : Group Differences by Co-residency and Economic Dependency of Adult Children

• 저자  성미애, 최연실, 최새은, 이재림
  
• 학술지명  한국가정관리학회지 (Journal of Korean Home Management Association)
• 권호사항  Vol.35 No.1 [2017], 139-158
• 발행연도  2017

초록

Following the global trend of the delayed transition to adulthood, the number of unmarried middle aged adult children  living with, or economically dependent on their parents has increased in Korea. Middle aged adult children in Korea are traditionally expected to satisfy their duty to support their elderly parents both in economic and emotional needs. This study aims to explore group differences in unmarried adult children in their mid 30s or older and in parents having unmarried middle  aged child(ren) depending on co-residency and the children’s eonomic dependency in Korea. Using quota sampling in terms  of living arrangements (living together vs. living apart), 500 unmarried adult children 35 years of age or older and 500 elderly  parents, having at least one unmarried child in the mid of 30s or over, were selected in Seoul, Korea in June 2016. First, the findings show that unmarried adult children living together with their parents and depending on their parents economically  were in the lowest level of educational achievement and the lowest level of monthly average income among the respondents.  Second, both unmarried adult children and parents from the group of co-residency and economically dependent showed the  lowest level of psychological well-being. Third, parents from the group of co-residency and economically independent had  mostly positive relationships with children, whereas, parents from the group of living apart and economically dependent reported the most negative relationships. Finally, respondents included in the group of co-residency had positive attitudes toward  marriage and the support for their elderly parents regardless of the child's economic dependency. This study has implications  for the increasing number of unmarried middle aged adult children and their elderly parents.