Girls gain on boys in the preferences of parents

Social Affairs

Published: 12 Jan. 2010, 20:48

Girls gain on boys in the preferences of parents

Korea’s long-standing preference for sons over daughters may be changing, a panel survey by the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education under the Prime Minister’s Office suggested yesterday.

Researchers asked couples expecting a child whether they would prefer to have a daughter or a son. Some 37.9 percent of mothers-to-be said they wanted a daughter, 31.3 percent wanted a son and the rest said they didn’t have a preference.

The researchers surveyed 2,078 households before the mothers gave birth at local maternity hospitals from April to July 2008.

Fathers-to-be echoed the sentiment, with 37.4 percent saying they wanted a daughter and 28.6 percent saying they were hoping for a son. The remaining 34 percent said they didn’t mind whether their child was a girl or a boy.

In a country that has long revered the Confucian spirit, men were treated better and earned a special status because they were considered as the crucial carriers of a family’s bloodline. There was tendency for fathers-to-be to want to have a son. But the institute’s survey showed that this preference is receding.

However, Korea is still not a desirable place for working moms when it comes to giving birth and raising a child, according to the survey.

Moms who joined the panel survey said they breast-fed babies for eight weeks on average. After childbirth, moms usually are capable of breast-feeding infants for up to 32 weeks. But researchers said because many companies in Korea allow working moms to take only a three-month maternity leave, they stop breast-feeding early and switch to bottle-feeding in order to return to work.

Babies not getting breast milk for a longer period stem from a reality where many working moms are still unable to take maternity leave, the researchers said.

A family with a newborn usually turns to their mothers-in-law, both on the father’s and mom’s sides, to lend a hand in helping with child care. Some 71.7 percent of respondents said they asked the baby’s grandparents for help whereas fewer than 10 percent said they hired nannies.

“Of all respondents, 82.7 percent said they pay expenses for child care on a regular basis,” said Lee Jeong-rim, a researcher involved in the project. “Such a trend indicates that couples are no longer expecting unconditional sacrifice from their parents. Now the trend is shifted to giving appropriate rewards for looking after their children.”

The institute will continue until 2020 the nationwide panel research, which started in 2008, that aims to examine child care and parents’ sentiments over giving birth and raising kids.

By Kim Mi-ju [mijukim@joongang.co.kr]

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신세대 부모일수록 여아 더 선호, 대잇기·부양책임 완화 세태 반영

지난해 5월 결혼해 경기도 분당에 사는 회사원 권준호(30)씨는 최근 ‘예비 아빠’ 대열에 합류했다. 권씨는 “아내가 한 달 전 임신했다”며 “부모님은 아들을 원하지만 우리 부부는 딸을 더 바란다”고 말했다. 키울 때 더 귀여운 데다 나이 들어서도 딸이 더 좋을 것 같다는 이유에서다. 권씨는 “주변 친구들을 봐도 요즘엔 딸을 더 바란다”고 덧붙였다.

국내의 뿌리 깊은 남아선호 사상이 변화하고 있다. 12일 국무총리실 산하 육아정책연구소가 2008년 전국 산부인과에서 태어난 2078명의 가구를 대상으로 실시한 아동패널 조사에 따르면 신생아 아버지의 37.4%가 딸을 바란 것으로 나타났다. 10명 중 4명꼴인 셈이다. 반면 아들을 바란 경우는 28.6%였다. 나머지 응답자는 ‘특별히 바라는 성별이 없었다’고 답했다. 신생아 어머니도 임신한 자녀가 딸이기를 바란 경우가 37.9%로 아들을 바란 31.3%보다 많았다.

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육아정책연구소 이정림 부연구위원은 “남아선호 사상이 젊은 세대에선 확실히 약화됐다”며 “대를 이어야 한다는 의무감이 줄고 부모 부양 책임도 사회복지제도가 어느 정도 덜어 주고 있기 때문”이라고 분석했다.

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