SINGLE MOTHERHOOD AND FAMILY STRATEGIES IN URBAN MEXICO AND SOUTH KOREA

• Published in: International journal of sociology of the family Vol. 39; no. 1/2; pp. 1 - 23
• Main Author: SHIN, HEEJU
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Serials Publications 01-04-2013
• Subjects: Child care; Financial securities; Head; Households; Kinship Networks; Mexico; Motherhood; Mothers; Parents; Public assistance programs; Single Mothers; Social Policy; South Korea; Unions; Urban Areas; Values
• ISSN: 0020-7667; 0973-2039; 0020-7667

Given the increasing proportion of single mother households worldwide, one of the biggest concerns is high level of poverty experienced by the members of these households. In many developing countries, more fragmented forms of social policy emerge and the welfare of this disadvantaged population is supplemented by other means. Using data from more than 40 in-depth interviews with single mothers, this study analyzes how single mothers in urban areas of Mexico and South Korea develop family strategies in the face of crises of livelihood. The emergence of distinctive family strategies is related to the peculiar family values of these two countries. Different from Mexico in which single mothers rely heavily on family networks for their livelihoods, Korean single mothers adopt different strategies for their welfare by relying on financial investment for future security in the absence of protective family networks after their unions dissolute.