Relatives' nagging gives young Koreans 'holiday blues'

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Sat, September 23, 2023 | 14:29

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Relatives' nagging gives young Koreans 'holiday blues'

Posted : 2016-09-14 13:40

Updated : 2016-09-14 13:55

Many Korean young adults feel stressed because of their nitpicking relatives during Chuseok holiday. / Korea Times file

By Choi Sung-jin

Seven out of every 10 working Koreans experience stress during traditional holidays, including Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving Day).

According to a survey of 1,921 workers by Job Korea, a job-seeking portal, 69.2 percent of respondents said they feel stressed because of their nitpicking relatives.

Words they hate to hear most varied, depending on the respondents' sex and marriage status.

In the case of married men, the largest share, 39.8 percent, found it most unpleasant when their kinfolk said, "The economy is quite slow and is your company OK?" Some (27.3 percent) hated it when parents said, "My friends received plentiful pocket money from their children," and others (15.1 percent) disliked questions about their annual income most.

Chuseok holiday begins

2016-09-13 16:43 | National

For married women, the most uncomfortable remark, cited by 36.7 percent, was "Let's prepare sufficient food since it's a holiday." Following it, with 31.3 percent, was "It's a long holiday, so why don't you stay longer?" This indicates how working women hate to be bound by household chores even during days off, far more so than concerns about company and money.

"When are you getting married?" was the most abominable question for singles, 57.7 percent of men and 60.3 percent of women.

Unmarried working men also cited as most stressful questions about their girlfriends (31.8 percent) and salaries (26.8 percent), while single women pointed to queries about salaries (30 percent) and looks (27.3 percent), including their weight.

Young people with jobs are much better off than their jobless counterparts, for whom family get-togethers are the most uncomfortable moments of the year.

In a separate survey of 372 jobless young people by Saramin, another job-seeking portal, 30.4 percent of unemployed youth hated it most when their relatives ask, "So you have a job now?" The second-most disliked comment, with 12.1 percent, was, "A distant relative of yours has reportedly entered a chaebol company."

Following them were expressions such as "You'd better watch your weight" (8.3 percent), "When are you getting married?" (8.1 percent), "What do you want to do from now?" (7.3 percent), "Just enter any company because there are little differences among firms" (7 percent), "How old are you?" (5.4 percent), "What do you think of learning some skills?" (3.2 percent), "May I find a job for you?" (3.2 percent) and "Do you have some dates?" (3.2 percent)

Actually, 64 percent of job seekers said they were hurt by these words during the Chuseok holiday, and 61.3 percent said they tried to avoid attending these occasions because of admonition and interference from family members and other relatives.

As the most likeable words to hear, the largest share (24.5 percent) of jobless young people said "no words at all." Among relatively agreeable expressions were, "When the time comes, everything will be OK" (cited by 15.6 percent), "Don't worry about getting jobs and take a good rest at least during holidays" (8.9 percent), "You're capable enough" (8.6 percent), "I believe in you" (8.1 percent), "Tell me if I can help you" (7 percent), "You need some money?" (6.7 percent), "Do everything you want to do while young" (6.5 percent) and "Push ahead with what you believe is right" (5.6 percent).

choisj@ktimes.com