:: NewsLetter ::

Colorful Celebration of 'World Women's Day'
Grading the Kim Administration's Three Years of Women's Policies
How Much Did It Cost to Raise Kids Last Year?

Colorful Celebration of 'World Women's Day'

After Mar. 8 ushered in the 93rd 'World Women's Day,' and in Korea, it was a culmination of a variety of events organized by women groups that began on Feb. 26.

The Korea Women's Association United (KWAU) held the 17th Korea Women's Day Rally on Mar. 4, where participants renewed their determination to abolish the Hoju system, secure government support for child care and housework, and protect women in irregular employment.

At the rally, the 13th 'Women of the Year Award' was given to Yoon Jeongok, the co-representative of the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.

Others recognized at the rally as 'stepping stones' to women's rights enhancement were: the ▲ families of victims of the fire in Kunsan red light district, for demanding preventive social measures rather than personal compensation ▲ the soap opera 'Ajumma' (the Korean equivalent of 'Missus'), for realistically depicting the social problems of divorce and the Hoju system ▲ 88CC branch of the Korean Women's Trade Unions, for helping to get people to acknowledge golf caddies and other sport competition assistants as workers ▲ Feminist singer Ahn Hyekyong.

The dishonor of being named 'stumbling blocks' to women's rights went to: ▲ Foreign Minister Lee Joung-binn ▲ President of Hotel Lotte, for giving light punishment for sexual harrassment while firing the victims ▲ Judge Kim at the Seoul District Court, for ruling that Agricultural Cooperative's dismissal of married couple employees is not unfair ▲ President of Korea Telecoms, for illegally dismissing married couple employees ▲ Major general Kim, for sexually harassing a women soldier.

The Korean Women Workers Associations United and the two federations of trade unions will join forces on Mar. 8 to hold a Women's Rally. They are due to call for an end to discrimination against irregular workers, whose fate has worsened due to the government's procrastination in allowing multiple union membership. There are other unusual events, such as a national bus tour in support of women in irregular employment and an online debate on the obstacles to women's participation in society.
reported by Euna-Song

Grading the Kim Administration's Three Years of Women's Policies

Three years have passed since President Kim's inauguration. How has the president - who has shown the most interest in women issues - fared in terms of women's policies?

Women groups generally agree that forming an administrative body in charge of women policies such as the Ministry of Gender Equality deserves high marks.

Another noteworthy achievement would be the active efforts to legislate or revise laws concerning women. Compared to the Roh Taewoo government's 19 and the Kim Youngsam government's 49, Kim Daejung has already enacted or revised 45 women-related laws with two years left to even further outstrip his predecessors. Now there are laws to support women-led companies, and women-related clauses have been added to a variety of laws including the Basic Act for Agriculture and Rural Communities, the Basic Education Act, the Broadcasting Act, and laws to reduce the digital divide.

Critics have a lot to say as well. The KWAU held a discussion on the 22nd of last month titled 'Three Years of Kim Daejung's Women Policies: Evaluation and Policy Recommendations.' Chung Hyunbaek, one of the panelists, criticized Kim for choosing low cost and high profile over practicality and effectiveness in dealing with women policies. Kim Elim, chief researcher at the Korean Women's Development Institute, pointed out that women policies were made without sufficient opinion surveys or publicity.

How much of his campaign pledges has Kim kept?
▲ Social Participation=Kim's party kept its promise to allocate 30% of its candidacies to women at the 16th general elections, producing a record 16 women lawmakers, who take up 5.8% of national assembly seats. However, the promised 4 Cabinet seats have yet to materialize, standing at just two women in the Cabinet, up one from 1999. The target for women's participation in the various government committees by the year 2000 was 25%, but the current percentage stands at a much lower 20.4%. Kim also promised that by expanding women's playing field, he would nurture more women leaders for the age of globalization, digitalization and reunification. But Internet classes for housewives was about all that came out of it. Women representation was low in inter-Korean exchanges including the North-South Summit, and women members are scarce in the various North-South joint committees.

▲ Economic participation=In the past, the issue of gender discrimination was tackled mainly in the field of employment, but new laws preventing and remedying gender discrimination have expanded the field to include consumption of goods, services and facilities. Also, by enacting laws to support women-led companies, an institutional mechanism for nurturing such companies has been established. When it comes to the all-important issue of employment and job security, however, Kim is the target of strong criticism from women groups. As of Oct. 2000, 74.4% of men participate in the economy, a 0.8% drop from the previous year. The same figures for women are 49.5% and 0.3% respectively. Women did experience a smaller decrease in employment rate than men, but compared to 1997, the number of unemployed women has increased 1.2 times, and women are being relegated to irregular employment at a much faster rate than men. Women workers are asking for measures to protect such irregular workers and others employed under special conditions, but related laws are not even in the making. Another promise yet to be kept is maternity protection laws such as the extension of maternity leave and social cost-sharing, which are still on hold at the National Assembly. The budget is ready, but collecting dust as the bill awaits review at the coming extraordinary session in April. Angry women groups are seriously questioning the government's sincerity in getting the bill passed.

▲ Family policies=Kim's pledged as a presidential candidate to bring equality to family relationships through such measures as evaluation of housework by full-time housewives. A survey of the time spent on housework has been carried out, but the monetary value of housework has yet to be factored into the GDP. As for revising gender discriminatory clauses in laws related to national pension and the treatment of citizens of merit, Kim kept his promise at the end of last year. However, the president did not make the passing grade for the revision of the Family Act, which is the cornerstone of equality in families. For example, the Constitutional Court ruled in 1997 that the law prohibiting marriages between men and women with the same family name is unconstitutional, but that law has yet to be revised. What is worse is the government's refusal to even talk about the abolishment of the Hoju system.

▲ Women's Welfare=According to Professor Chung Jaehoon (Dept. of Social Welfare, Sangji Univ.), several improvements have been made, from the four main national insurance systems (pension system, employment insurance, health insurance, and insurance against industrial hazards) to a variety of welfare services and infrastructure. The problem is, says Chung, that the lack of funds considerably reduces the effect of such improvements. Another problem pointed out by Chung is the lack of child care facilities. More than 80% of such facilities in Korea are privately run, and access to child care is denied to 62% of the children who need it. Welfare policies for minority groups such as single mothers, disabled women, older women and prostitutes are also insufficient.

▲ Preventing violence and protecting human rights=The president is generally considered a disappointing 'human rights champion.' Opposition from the Ministry of Justice itself has blocked the passage of laws for setting up a national human rights committee dealing with gender discrimination and sexual violence. Lawmakers are still refusing to ratify the clause in the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) allowing freedom of choice in family name. The Optional Protocol to the CEDAW has not been ratified either, proving that Korea falls short of international standards when it comes to human rights.

reported by Junghee Kim

How Much Did It Cost to Raise Kids Last Year?

Koreans sometimes liken raising children to pouring water into a bottomless pot. So does it pay to raise children? The Haja Center (a youth center that gives youngsters hands-on experience) tried to answer that through its first Digital Storytelling Festival, where a contest was held with the very unique theme of 'Raising Children: settling the accounts.'

Contest participants calculated the yearly cost of clothing and feeding their children, and also added up the cost of using space, school fees, health care costs, allowance, computer and Internet charges, and the economic value of the mental and physical labor they put in to bring up their children. They then graded their children's growth as a result of their investment, making up a balance sheet of the "business" of child-rearing. Participants were judged not on the money they spent but the pains they took to understand their children.

"Five million won for mental labor. And at a discounted rate, too!" The money that goes into raising children per year ranged from a few million won to tens of millions of won among the 70-odd participants. Expenditure on private education differed from parent to parent, but the biggest difference by far was the method each parent used to determine the monetary value of the mental and physical labor of child-rearing. Some said their labor was free of charge, accepting parenthood as destiny. There are some who did not charge anything because they considered their labor priceless. But there were others who put a price tag on their labor by estimating how much they would expect to be paid if they sold the same degree of labor elsewhere.

The participants, their children and other internet users were all surprised at the higher-than-expected cost of raising children. Fifteen-year-old Kim Jiyeon, daughter of participant Seo Youngmi (aged 39), wrote, "Who would have thought so much money was spent on me?" Kim Minshik (aged 46), mother of an eighteen-year-old son named Shin Hocheol, received the 'exclamation mark price.' She admitted that initially, she found the idea of calculating the monetary value of child-rearing somewhat distasteful. But adding up the figures made her realize that compared to the huge amount she spent on her child, she spent much too little on herself.

The grade that the participants gave their children ranged from 50 to more than 90, but most of them were generous despite the huge amount of money they spent on their children. Mr. Kang Kyutae (aged 47) received the 'Period Prize,' the highest prize in the contest. He spent 18 million won last year raising his eighteen-year-old daughter Jinju. "Five million won for mental labor. At a discounted rate, too!" he says. He gave his daughter 89 marks, explaining that although she did not excel in school, he was proud of her individuality. Writes Kang, "The younger generation has different opinions, so I can't force mine on my child. I let her do things her way because I trust her." Jinju commented that she was surprised at how hard her father worked at writing the essay for the contest, and that she could feel a little of his love for her.

The participants that won the hearts of the internet users that visited the site were not those who boasted how well they brought up their children but those who were honest enough to reveal the pain and struggle of getting along with their kids. Commenting on the growing up years of her fifteen-year-old daughter Kim Jiyeon, Seo Youngmi (aged 39) said, "Kids never grow up the way you want them to." Kim Myonghee (aged 43), mother of eleven-year-old Kwak Younghoon, admitted, "Being a mother is torture. My kid doesn't understand me... The most difficult part is waking up at six thirty to make breakfast." Offsprings had things to say, too. Teenager Cheon Seongmin claimed that his father (Cheon Heewan, aged 45) interferes too much. Twenty-year-old Heo Sunyoung wanted her mother (Kim Haesoo, aged 46) to see that she was a young adult capable of taking care of herself.

It was disappointing to see some parents opting not to participate because they thought they had failed as parents or because they were reluctant to reveal how much they spent on private education. But those who did participate said that the contest gave them something much more valuable than just prizes and grades; they were given a precious opportunity to look back on their lives and the lives of their children in the past year.

"With an education system where getting into a good college overshadows everything else, we don't have a proper model of how to bring up our children. We hope to create that model through this contest, a part of our never-ending search for a balanced relationship with our children." That said, KimJeong Myongshin, curator of the contest, suggests, "If raising children seems difficult, perhaps it's time to change your objective and method." The contest 'Raising Children: settling the accounts' will be held again next year after beefing up the technical aspects of the event.

reported by Yeuwool Cho 　