5월 통계청이 발표한 2013 청소년 통계자료에 따르면 부모는 가족이 돌봐야 한다는 생각을 가진 청소년은 응답자 중 35.6% 에 그친 낮은 수치를 보였다.

성신여자중학교에 다니는 한 여중생은 코리아헤럴드를 통해 "저는 외동딸인데 가족부양을 혼자 하기는 너무 힘들 것 같아요. 예전처럼 형제자매가 4~5명이 되면 모를까.. 나라에서 같이 도와주면 좋을 것 같아요" 라고 전했다.

해당 수치는 2002년 67.1%에서 절반 가까이 떨어진 수치다. 반면, 가족과 정부 사회가 함께 돌보아야 한다는 응답자는 2002년 20.5%에서 50%로 크게 상승했다.

김현철 한국청소년정책연구원 연구원은 “청소년들의 인식 변화는 경제적 상황과 개인주의 성향, 저출산•고령화 사회가 복합적으로 영향을 미친 것으로 보인다”고 분석했다. (박수희 인턴기자 / 코리아헤럴드)


<관련 영문 기사>


Fewer Korean youth think supporting parents is their duty: report

Three out of 10 Korean youth believe that they should take a major role in supporting their parents, a report showed.

According to the 2013 Youth Statistics report which was released this month and conducted by Statistics Korea, 35.6 percent of the respondents said children should take responsibility in looking after their parents. The result is a drastic fall compared to 67.1 percent in the same survey conducted in 2002.

The report was based on 31 surveys given to people aged 15 to 24.

“I’m the only child in my family, so it seems very challenging for me to fully support my parents,” said Lee, a 15-year old student attending Sungshin Girls Middle School. Lee declined to reveal her full name. “We are not like our parents who had many siblings to share the burden with.”

In the same report, 50 percent of the youth respondents were found to claim an individual’s duty to support his or her parent should be shared with local society and the government, a jump from 20.5 percent in 2002.

“Many factors affected teenagers’ perception of supporting parents, which include the nation’s economic condition, deepening individualism, low birthrate and the aging society,” said Kim Hyun-chul, a researcher at the National Youth Policy Institute.

By Park Sui, Intern reporter
(suipark@heraldcorp.com)