A recent study in hani.co.kr showed that children in South Korea spend an average of six minutes a day with their father, the least of any country in the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). When asked if there was a friend or relative they could turn to when they were having a hard time, the number of South Koreans who said no was the highest. Experts say that the trend is a result of long working hours which is usual in the country.
A 40-year-old office worker had an awkward situation at a company sporting event he attended with his family. His second child, who was 10 months old at the time, wouldn't stop crying. He was usually late at the office three or four times a week and is not home until 10PM. He said that his children rarely get to see him because of this schedule and that to them he seems like a stranger. He recalled that it was about 2 months ago that he had a chance to read a book to his oldest child who was 6 years old.
A report that was published recently by the OECD entitled How's Life 2015 showed that South Korean children spend only about 48 minutes with their parents each day. This is much lower than the average of 151 minutes in the 20 OECD member countries. And sadly it's the lowest out of any countries surveyed.
The report noted that Australian children spend more than four hours with their parents, while South Korean children spend less than an hour with them. According to the report, the time that children spend with their parents, and especially the way they spend that time, are key factors in their physical and emotional development. South Korean fathers spend only three minutes with their children for almost everything, from reading books to them, helping them with their homework, playing with them, and even taking care of their physical needs.
Chung Hae-sik, assistant researcher for the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, said that since people are so busy with their lives, they don't have the chance to take care of the people around them which leads them to assume that people won't take care of them in return. This clearly shows the unique conditions in Korean society, which has longer working hours than other countries. As of 2013, an average Korean spend about 2,071 hours at work each year. This is more than 400 hours above the average of 1,671.
