[Opinion] Reconstructing 21st Century Families and Local Communities

Published 12 Apr.2023 13:16(KST)

There is an African proverb that says, "It takes a whole village to raise a child." This means that for a child to grow into an adult, the attention and cooperation of family, school, and neighbors are necessary. South Korea was once like this too. In times when families and village communities functioned properly, there were elders, relatives, and neighbors in the household who shared the responsibility of raising children. However, nowadays, such social safety nets can no longer be found anywhere. In today's Korean society, where single-person households have become the norm beyond nuclear families, the ultra-low birthrate phenomenon may be a natural consequence.

As the extended family and local communities that served as social safety nets disappear, all roles and responsibilities are concentrated on the individual. Today, the burden of childcare falls entirely on women. Mothers have to handle daily repetitive housework, childcare, and even dual-income work. The childcare burdens once shared by household elders, relatives, and neighbors are now focused solely on mothers. In this situation, having and raising children is no easy task. Husbands face similar challenges. They must be recognized for their abilities at work, show filial piety to their parents, and be good husbands and fathers. It is difficult to perform even one role properly, yet both men and women are burdened with too many roles.

A bigger problem is that these "multi-roles" are not evenly distributed throughout life. The most important tasks in life?such as employment, marriage, childcare, promotion, and home ownership?are all concentrated in the 30s. If one remains unmarried and lives alone, at least the tasks of marriage, childbirth, and childcare disappear, allowing more personal capacity to be focused elsewhere. Given this reality, the phenomena of singlehood and late marriage in South Korea have been steadily increasing over the past 30 years.

Ultimately, to slightly rebound from the world's lowest birthrate, the area that requires the most focus is creating an environment conducive to childcare and parenting. The reconstruction of families and local communities can be a future alternative welfare system and an important principle of social operation. This does not mean returning to the extended family system or local community society specialized in the old agricultural era. Rather, it means seeking new family systems and communities that fit 21st-century values and South Korea's residential culture.

The first condition for reconstructing 21st-century families and local communities is to prepare residential spaces where three generations?grandparents, parents, and grandchildren?can live together. This is to build an environment where three generations can cohabit and exercise mutual solidarity and caregiving functions. Secondly, based on residential spaces where three generations can live together, residential complexes or villages should be developed to function as village communities. Like traditional society's villages, the composition of apartment complexes should be strengthened, and shared spaces expanded to activate residential communities where residents can naturally meet.

Concentrating all childcare, parenting, and caregiving on one individual is neither desirable nor sustainable. If spaces where three generations can live together are prepared, dual-income couples in their 30s and 40s can receive help from grandparents in childcare, parenting, and household chores, reducing their burden. Additionally, grandparents can spend their lonely old age with family and receive help with their health and care from their family.

Seoyongseok, Professor at KAIST MunSul Graduate School of Future Strategy