"Call Your Parents" Fewer Parent-Child Phone Calls in Lower Income Households

Chuseok, a time when the entire family gathers together.

Conversations with parents, meeting face-to-face after a long time, often begin with nagging rather than joy.

Familiar questions such as "Why don't you call?", "Keep in touch," and "When are you coming home?" are often the first topics at the table.

How often do children contact or visit their parents who live separately?

It was found that even family relationships are influenced by economic conditions, such as differences in the method and frequency of contact with parents depending on income level. Pixabay

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According to the "19th Korean Welfare Panel Survey" released by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on October 3, a survey of 7,499 households nationwide found that 44.38% of all households live separately from their parents.

This ratio varied significantly by income level. Among general income households, 49.72% lived apart from their parents. However, among low-income households, defined as those earning 60% or less of the median income, only 17.52% lived separately. This demonstrates that economic conditions influence whether families live together.

The most notable finding was the frequency of phone calls with parents who live separately. Over the past year, the median number of phone calls children made to their parents was 52 per year, while the average was 106. The median suggests about once a week, and the average indicates a call every three to four days.

There was also a difference depending on household income. General households made an average of 106 calls per year, while low-income households averaged 95, indicating that children in higher income households called their parents more frequently.

In contrast, the pattern was reversed when it came to visiting or meeting parents in person. Over the past year, children visited or met their parents an average of 42 times, with a median of 12 times. Notably, low-income households visited their parents 46 times per year on average, more frequently than general households, which averaged 42 visits.

The researchers explained, "In low-income households, children met their parents in person more often, but called them less frequently compared to general households. However, there was considerable variation within the low-income group, resulting in a large statistical standard error." This suggests that even among low-income households, there are significant differences in how often children interact with their parents.

The Korean Welfare Panel Survey has been conducted nationwide every year since 2006 to provide an in-depth analysis of people's living conditions and welfare needs.

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