hankyoreh

a joint living facility for single mothers in Gwangju

“It’s like being at my mother’s house. Since coming here, I’ve been able to raise my baby without worrying about the cost of diapers or formula.”

Ms. Kim, a 26-year-old single mother, looked composed on the afternoon of Feb. 27 as she related the circumstances that brought her to raise her child at Pyeonhanjip (which means ‘Comfortable House’), a joint living facility for single mothers in Gwangju. A high-school graduate, she had been working part-time when she met a man who was three years younger. They eventually broke up, and it was only then that she learned she was pregnant. After giving birth to a son at a single mothers’ support facility run by the Social Welfare Society (SWS), she went to her 58-year-old father to ask for help.

“How are you going to raise him?” she recalled the father asking.

He suggested putting the child up for adoption instead, but Kim did not want to give the baby up. In Feb. 2013, she moved into Pyeonhanjip with the SWS‘s help.

“I don’t have contact with my ex-boyfriend,” she said. “It‘s tough, but I’m going to raise the child on my own.”

Pyeonhanjip is a facility where single mothers and their infant children live together. An expansion to the thirty-year-old building last June has left it a much cheerier place. A two-story structure measuring 500 square meters, it has 13 rooms divided into family units. It has 18 residents: eight single mothers and their children. The living room and kitchen are shared, with each adult resident taking turns cooking each week. Support covers daily essentials, items for the babies, and day care costs. The building also has a separate learning room, library, and play room.

“Mothers typically live here for up to two years, with up to two six-month extensions available under special circumstances,” explained Gi Se-sun, the facility‘s 45-year-old director.

Another of the facility’s goals is to help young mothers survive on their own. Customized education services are available, including preparations for qualification and certification exams. Kim earned a story-telling certificate and studied beauty treatments.

Ms. Lee, 25, is a former resident who stayed at Pyeonhanjip from Oct. 2011 to May 2013. Today, she lives with her five-year-old in government-subsidized rental housing with assistance from the Gwangju Metropolitan City Corporation. Each month, she draws 800,000 won (US$727) in Basic Livelihood Security Benefits.

“Living at Pyeonhanjip helped me get computer certification and the confidence to stand on my own,” Lee said.

“I dropped out of girls’ high school and ended up graduating from the Open High School,” she explained. “Now I’m studying social services in college and receiving financial aid.”

Like Lee, many young mothers from Pyeonhanjip have gone on to become day care instructors or nursing assistants after taking courses at the facility.

Finances are the biggest problem for the single mothers, most of whom are out of contact with their families after giving birth. According to figures from the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS), there were 9,332 unwed mothers (a category that includes single mothers and those in common law marriages) nationwide and 395 in Gwangju in 2013. Seven hundred of them, including 17 in Gwangju, had abandoned their children or were otherwise unidentified. State financial support to single mothers amounts to just 100,000 to 150,000 won (US$91-136) per month. A recent study on single mother health, conducted by the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family as part of a health support project for single mother households, found 63 out of 96 single mothers, or 84%, to be earning less than one million won (US$910) a month.

Kim, who has qualified for Basic Livelihood Security Benefits, was hired last December for a short-term contract position at Gwangsan District Office. With the help of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), she found a 33.05-㎡ studio apartment, but she had no way of paying the rental deposit.

“I posted a message on the district office site about my situation, and I received 2.8 million won (US$2,550) in support. I also got one million won in support from Pyeonhanjip, which just allowed me to pay the deposit,” she said.

The city of Gwangju provides just 24 million won a year in self-support for households with legally married mothers, or three million each to eight families. Unwed mothers are not eligible.

Mothers typically have to leave Pyeonhanjip within two years. Many ultimately decide to put their children up for adoption because of difficulty supporting them. Support from the city’s young parents project amounts to around 73 million won (US$66,400) a year.

“I receive 840,000 won (US$764) a month in benefits, and it’s tough to survive after paying 120,000 to 130,000 won (US$109-118) for day care, housing costs, and transportation,” said Lee. “I sometimes find myself thinking it might be a good idea to have my child adopted. Then I look at my child, and I feel so sorry.”

In addition to Pyeonhanjip, Gwangju has three other facilities where single mothers and their children can live: the Inae Welfare Center, Urijip (‘Our House’), and Pyeongan-ui Jip (‘Peace House’).

Experts said that finding a solution for the childbirth and child-raising concerns of single mothers who have to raise their children alone should be a priority for the state and local governments. In particular, they called for medical, educational, and residential support alongside the benefits until the child is 36 months old, so that mothers can become self-sufficient.

By Jung Dae-ha, Gwangju correspondent

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