ScholarWorks@경상국립대학교

초록

The purpose of this study is to examine how social and cultural factors are playing a role in the rise of one-person households in both Korea and Japan, and to explore how these socio-cultural factors have been influencing the increase of one-person households. The results of the study are as follows: The first factor is the dissolution of the family. The number of elderly one-person households in Japan is higher than that of Korea, but the number of unmarried or single, middle-aged people is rapidly increasing in both of these countries. Since these people have no children, the breakup of the family, which prevents the continuity of households, is gradually establishing a no-relationship society. The second factor is the collapse of the traditional community. Anxiety and a sense of crisis over the future caused by this second factor make it difficult for the young generation to get married, thereby increasing the number of one-person households. We are now witnessing the increase of one-person households and the coinage of newly-created words related to individualism. Young one-person households suffer from job insecurity in Korea, where Internet access is good, and competitions for college entrance and employment are higher than in Japan. If they grows up to be a one-person elderly household, the loneliness from lack of traditional ties with no relationships will be felt more deeply in the future. The third factor is economic poverty. Job insecurity felt by the younger generation is more problematic in Korea, where the unemployment rate of the younger generation is higher than that of Japan, The unemployment status experienced during their youth can continue until they reach their 30s and 40s, and eventually they can become economically isolated one-person households. In the case of one-person elderly households, senior citizens earning low wages are common in both the countries. However, while Japan has more recipients of welfare and tax-free pensions, Korea has a high percentage of wage earners. This result illustrates how senior citizens are employed in low-wage areas with a lack of job security. In summary, the dissolution of families, the collapse of traditional communities, and economic poverty are factors that contribute to the increase of one-person households in both Korea and Japan, and this increasing number of one-person households produced throughout the generations, not to mention elderly one-person households, is influencing the establishment and the spread of a no-relationship society.

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