The evolution of family policy in South Korea: From Confucian familism to Neo-familism

The aim of this article is to trace the trajectory of family policy development in South Korea from the 1940s to the present. Changes to family intervention are analyzed in terms of the settings of policy instruments, the policy instruments themselves, and policy goals (or policy regimes). Consequently, two critical turning points are identified: the late 1980s and the early 2000s. The first period (1945-1988) was an era of embryonic Korean family policy when family intervention was limited and indirect based on Confucian familism. During the second period (1998-2003), explicit family policies emerged, but the Korean government kept family intervention to a minimum; maintained a division of roles between the state, the market, and families (the state as the regulator and the market/families as the providers); and maintained patriarchal family relations and gendered family roles based on Confucian familism. However, the third period (2003-2016) shows the explosive expansion of family policies and changes in policy goals and regimes based on Neo-familism, which emphasizes democratic and equal gender relations within families and a family-friendly/supportive society.