Accelerating Nuclear Family Trend... "'Relatives up to 3rd Cousins' Most Common, 4th Cousins and Beyond Decreasing"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyeon-jin] A recent survey found that over the past decade, the number of people who consider relatives up to the "third degree including direct family" has increased, while those who perceive relatives beyond the fourth degree have decreased. Regarding the range of relatives with whom people are willing to engage in economic interests such as joint business, investment, or lending money, more than half answered "direct family only."

On the 14th, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) commissioned a research firm to conduct a survey on "Public Perception of the Range of Relatives" targeting 1,000 adults nationwide on June 6-7 last month. The results showed that the highest percentage (34.3%) responded that the range of relatives is "up to the third degree." Considering that the same response rate was 18.0% in the 2010 survey, this represents about a twofold increase.

"Relatives at the 4th or 6th degree? Their proportion is steadily decreasing"

(Data provided by the Federation of Korean Industries)

Regarding the range of relatives, 32.6% responded "up to the fourth degree including direct family," followed by 18.3% for "up to the sixth degree including the fourth degree," and 11.6% for "direct family only." Compared to the 2010 survey, the response for "direct family" increased 2.4 times from 4.8% in 2010 to 11.6% this year, and the response for "up to the third degree" also doubled from 18.0% to 34.3% during the same period.

On the other hand, the response for "up to the fourth degree" decreased by 13.2 percentage points from 45.8% in 2010 to 32.6% this year, and the response for "up to the sixth degree" also dropped by 6.3 percentage points to 18.3%. An FKI official explained, "The proportion of people who consider the fourth and sixth degree relatives as kin is decreasing, suggesting that the nuclear family centered on direct family will accelerate in the future."

Regarding relationships with fourth-degree relatives, 44.1% responded that it is a "ceremonial relationship meeting 1-2 times a year," followed by "meeting 3-4 times a year and socializing" at 22.3%, and "no interaction at all" at 16.6%. For sixth-degree relatives, 45.2% answered "no interaction at all," followed by "ceremonial relationship meeting 1-2 times a year" (37.5%), "meeting 3-4 times a year and socializing" (9.8%), "frequently meeting and socializing" (3.7%), and "others" (3.8%).

More than half say "direct family" for relatives with possible economic relations

Separately from the emotional perception of kinship range, 54.8% responded that the range of relatives with whom economic relations such as joint business, investment, or lending money are possible is "direct family." Under current civil law, the range of relatives is defined as blood relatives within the eighth degree and relatives by marriage within the sixth degree, while tax law, commercial law, and the Fair Trade Act define the range of "relatives with economic connections" as blood relatives within the sixth degree and relatives by marriage within the fourth degree. The FKI interpreted this as a gap between current laws and public perception.

Next were "siblings including direct family and up to the third degree" (20.9%), "others or no intention to engage with anyone" (16.3%), "up to the fourth degree including direct family and third degree" (5.4%), and "up to the sixth degree including the fourth degree" (2.6%).

(Data provided by Jeongyeongryeon)

Regarding laws such as tax law and the Fair Trade Act that regulate special relatives as relatives by marriage within the fourth degree and blood relatives within the sixth degree, 53.3% responded that these laws are unreasonable. For example, the system that requires mandatory disclosure of personal information and stock ownership status because fourth- and sixth-degree relatives run a business, and imposes gift tax on legal transactions between fourth-degree relatives, was considered "very unreasonable" by 34.7% and "unreasonable" by 18.6% of respondents.

To improve these systems, 24.9% responded that related regulations should be abolished, and more than half (54.8%) said the range of relatives should be limited to "direct family." Other responses were "including siblings within direct family" (12.6%), "up to the third degree" (5.0%), and "up to the fourth degree" (0.9%).

Yoo Hwan-ik, Director of Corporate Policy at the Federation of Korean Industries, stated, "While social perceptions of kinship are rapidly changing as exchanges with relatives decrease, the system is not keeping pace. It is necessary to consider adjusting the range of relatives regulated by economic laws such as tax law, commercial law, and the Fair Trade Act?that is, the range of special relatives?to direct family such as parents, spouses, and children, in line with public sentiment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.