Single parents' income only a half that of the two parents'

By Lee Kyung-min

Single parents’ income is only about a half that of the two parents’, and 80 percent of them are without child support, according to government survey released Tuesday.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family asked 2,522 single-parent households from October last year to last February.

Based on the survey, the ministry estimated that there would be 570,000 households of single parents raising a minor.

Mother raising a child took up about 63 percent of the total, and the rest 36 percent was cases of father raising a child. Their average income was 1.7 million won ($1,500), 48 percent that of the regular household’s.

Even though the court ordered that the child support be paid, 83 percent of the single parents were without them, and 72 percent said that they do not keep in touch with the ex-spouses.

Most of them, 82 percent, were hired, but the job security wasn’t guaranteed as they were mostly temporary workers ,or had one-off jobs.

Almost twice as many single parents were suffering from depression than the regular parents, the survey showed.

When asked what they needed the most for government support, 70 percent of them said “cash for daily necessities.” Housing, childcare, and support for job seeking were among other needs.

An official from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said that they will come up with a comprehensive support plan. “With the results, we will gradually raise money in proportion to the degree of need each family has.”