By Kang Hyun-kyung
Nearly four out of 10 foreign brides or their family members have experienced discrimination based on race, according to a recent survey.
The survey, released by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Tuesday, found 41.3 percent of those questioned felt discriminated against, up 5 percentage points from a 2009 poll.
Workplaces were where most discrimination took place, followed by shops, restaurants and schools.
A total of 15,341 foreign brides were surveyed in July last year.
Cho Young-hee, a research fellow of the International Organization for Migration Research Center in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, said the government is partially responsible for the discrimination.
"The government-sponsored social cohesion programs have focused on immigrants and their families but they didn't resonate with the general public. This led to a low level of social integration," Cho said.
The survey of multiracial families showed that 283,224 foreign brides, including naturalized citizens, live in Korea.
Twenty percent of them earn 2 million won or less a month, compared with nearly 60 percent in 2009.
This indicated economic hardship facing multiracial families have eased. The national average of households earning 2 million won per month is 17.7 percent.
The ministry's survey also found that children from multiracial families are more often subject to bullying in school.
According to the survey, 13.8 percent of children between the ages of 9 to 24 experienced discrimination in school from classmates or teachers just because they have biracial family backgrounds.
When facing such discrimination, about half of them didn't react to the people who harassed them.
The school attendance rate for children from multiracial families was lower than the nation's average and this increased in higher education.
The average high school attendance is 92.6 percent, while that of children from multiracial families stood at 85.1 percent.
Only 49.3 percent of multiracial students go to college, much lower than the national average of nearly 80 percent.
Nearly four out of 10 foreign brides or their family members have experienced discrimination based on race, according to a recent survey.
The survey, released by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Tuesday, found 41.3 percent of those questioned felt discriminated against, up 5 percentage points from a 2009 poll.
Workplaces were where most discrimination took place, followed by shops, restaurants and schools.
A total of 15,341 foreign brides were surveyed in July last year.
Cho Young-hee, a research fellow of the International Organization for Migration Research Center in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, said the government is partially responsible for the discrimination.
"The government-sponsored social cohesion programs have focused on immigrants and their families but they didn't resonate with the general public. This led to a low level of social integration," Cho said.
The survey of multiracial families showed that 283,224 foreign brides, including naturalized citizens, live in Korea.
Twenty percent of them earn 2 million won or less a month, compared with nearly 60 percent in 2009.
This indicated economic hardship facing multiracial families have eased. The national average of households earning 2 million won per month is 17.7 percent.
The ministry's survey also found that children from multiracial families are more often subject to bullying in school.
According to the survey, 13.8 percent of children between the ages of 9 to 24 experienced discrimination in school from classmates or teachers just because they have biracial family backgrounds.
When facing such discrimination, about half of them didn't react to the people who harassed them.
The school attendance rate for children from multiracial families was lower than the nation's average and this increased in higher education.
The average high school attendance is 92.6 percent, while that of children from multiracial families stood at 85.1 percent.
Only 49.3 percent of multiracial students go to college, much lower than the national average of nearly 80 percent.
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