By Kim Bo-eun
Seoul City said Thursday it plans to create a social enterprise at which immigrant women can work as baristas and manicurists, in a bid to create jobs for those seeking a stable source of income and job stability.
Shops will be operated in collaboration with private firms in spaces provided by the city to give them job opportunities. If this project proves successful, the city government will create a social enterprise for immigrant women.
Other measures include giving them opportunities to earn degrees at the University of Seoul.
This is part of a comprehensive support program the city is pushing to address the difficulties immigrant women and multiracial families are currently facing. It covers diverse sectors such as employment, children’s education, counseling for family issues and support systems.
The move comes as the number of marriage immigrants and multiracial families continues to grow while society lacks adequate support systems to help them adjust to life in Korea.
In the past six years, the number of immigrants increased by 35.4 percent and multiracial families by 417 percent. Seoul has the second largest married immigrant population in the country, with 22 percent of them living in the city, following Gyeonggi Province with 27.8 percent.
A recent survey showed more than 80 percent of female immigrants are experiencing problems due to language barriers and financial difficulties. Cases of divorce and domestic violence are also on the rise while there is no proper system to provide support and protect the women’s rights. Multiracial children are also having trouble adjusting to schools, with little educational support for them before they start school, according to city officials.
“Multiracial families, as members of our society, need attention and consideration from the local society as a whole,” said a city official. “We will continue to provide systematic, comprehensive support to the families so that the immigrant women and their multiracial children can lead happy lives in Korean society.”