“It seems like I just ran with my eyes closed for 7 years after giving birth. I had to graduate from school and raise my child.”
Her office worker Kim Mi-hyun (24, pseudonym) became pregnant with her child while she was in middle school. She is 17 years old in Korea, and she became her mother when she was in her freshman year of high school. It was an unexpected pregnancy and birth for her. Her family’s help was hard to come by. It was private organizations and corporate social contribution foundations that helped Mr. Kim at a loss. Ms. Kim said, “She wouldn’t have lived this long without the support around her.”
Korean society was disturbed for a while due to the case of abandonment and murder of unreported children. It was investigated that most of the crimes were committed due to unprepared pregnancy and childbirth. However, even in similar circumstances, there are not a few people who do not give up on their children and raise them like Mr. Kim.
Park Jung-hyun (28, pseudonym), who is raising her 7-year-old daughter alone, also had a child with her girlfriend at the time when she was a college student. Ms. Park said, “When she first heard the news of her pregnancy, she didn’t know the weight of raising a life, so she wasn’t helpless,” she said.
Park was fortunately able to get help from her mother. Her mother took care of her granddaughter, Park’s daughter. Instead, all of her economic activities belonged to Mr. Park. She had to take responsibility for her family’s living expenses, her own college tuition, and food expenses. Her part-time job at a fast food restaurant was too much for her. Mr. Park said, “At that time, money was always negative.”
The situation of Kim, who was a single mother of a teenager, was even worse. She had to deal with her studies and parenting alone. To juggle her two things, Kim entered her facility. With the help of her teacher, she went on to high school. However, she had to drop out after never attending school. She had no one to look after her child.
The economic problem was also great. The government subsidy for her single-parent family is 400,000 won per month for Kim and her children. Usually, 700,000 to 800,000 won is provided for a family of two, but the cost of living was cut because they stayed in a facility that received state subsidies. It was sorely lacking, but Kim even had her savings. Because she had something she wanted to do.
Mr. Kim said, “I had a dream of becoming a makeup artist, and I thought that I had to graduate from university to broaden my career choices later.” , childcare expenses, etc.,” he said.
Self-reliance of single parents helped by society… “If housing support is improved”These single parents agree that they would not have been able to raise their children without the help of those around them. I was able to find a relatively stable life through facilities and alternative schools run by religions such as Catholicism, and the ‘Dream Again’ project run by a large corporation’s 메이저놀이터social contribution foundation.
Mr. Park said, “With corporate sponsorship, my money worries have decreased a lot,” and “I had to take a leave of absence to make a living. He added, “It was nice to be able to do something more for my child with the savings on living expenses as there was also support for goods.” Mr. Park finished college safely and is currently working as a medical technician at a general hospital.
Mr. Kim said, “For state support, you have to appeal ‘how pitiful I live,’ but it was nice that companies reviewed my study plan and looked at ‘I can live this well.'” I worked really hard and received a scholarship every semester. I collected the money and later used it as a deposit for my house.”
After completing her studies, the most pressing issue was housing stability. There is a limit on how long you can stay at each facility, and even if you do economic activities, it takes several years to get a deposit if you are responsible for living expenses and childcare costs alone. Although there are rental houses for single-parent families, it is said that it was difficult to get help due to strict standards.
Mr. Kim said ” LHI looked into single-parent charter loans, but at the time, the income standard was up to 60% of the median income, and it was about 1.9 million won.” “It seems that housing support for those who need a place to stay right now is still lacking,” he added.
Emotional stability through exchanges with single-parent families… “I want to live a normal life”
They said that interacting with other single parents they met through corporate foundations helped their emotional stability. It is said that the time spent doing club activities such as musicals with people in similar situations and sharing parenting information has fostered a will to ‘live well’.
Mr. Kim said, “I had a great sense of accomplishment in that I was doing something with one goal with my peers in a similar situation while doing a musical club,” adding, “Everyone who gathered had a strong desire to grow and a strong will to become self-reliant, so when we met, ‘How can I live well?’ I was just wondering,” he said.
“We are no longer receiving support from the foundation, but we still keep in touch with the families we met then, and we became friends with going outdoors once or twice a year,” he said. I think I will live,” he said.
Although she became a mother at a younger age than others, she raises her children with a sense of responsibility, and Ms. Kim is now friends with her son, who is in elementary school. Ms. Kim said to those who are in a similar situation to herself, “It may be difficult, but there is definitely a place where you can get help when you want to make a choice,” and “I hope you don’t give up.”
When asked what her future goals were, Kim replied that she would “live a normal life.” He said, “It’s a world where it’s hard for not only single mothers but everyone to live ‘normally’, but I want to live a normal life with my own house and car.”