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Video Description

Type: KIHASA Policy Featurette

Topic: Barriers to Self-Standing of Single-Parent Families

Original video: [KIHASA Special] "Not Alone, But Together: Supporting the Lives of Single-Parent Families through Policy"

Related Research Monograph: “Time and Economic Resources of Single-Parent Families and Policies” by Lee Ayoung

https://repository.kihasa.re.kr/handle/201002/47363

Transcript

Research Fellow Lee Ah-young:

The system itself is structured in a way that discourages self-reliance. For instance, a ‘double peak’ can be observed in the graph showing the density of beneficiaries of the single-parent support policy across the income distribution: One peak occurs at a higher income level, while another appears near the eligibility threshold for support. This suggests that some parents intentionally adjust their income to remain within the system.

Structure-wise, full support is available to those who meet the legal eligibility criteria, but once the threshold is crossed, all support is withdrawn. Due to this design, single parents tend to try to remain within the system as much as possible. This is how the system itself ends up conditioning single-parent families to avoid pursuing self-reliance.

Narration:

In addition, single parents face another challenge as they must take on both caregiving and breadwinning responsibilities. A typical example is the issue of child support compliance in divorced families.

Lee:

Currently, a significant proportion of single parents are awarded child support but do not actually receive it. Even when enforcement measures are pursued, the rate of actual collection is remarkably low.