A fairly new concept called 'alone death' became an issue last year. It refers to those people who die alone unnoticed and are found long after they are deceased. As seen from 'alone deaths', Korean society is being divided into smaller and smaller groups instead of big families. There are many ways to look at why Korean families are getting smaller and more people are living by themselves. In addition, there are issues derived from the ongoing phenomenon.
The members of a household are decreasing rapidly because of the rapid changes in social structure. Korean society has switched from agricultural society into industrial society within 50 years. It is the speed that is unprecedented around the world. In the agricultural society people were the asset and the parent's retirement plan. The more people in the family meant more productivity and more food. However, things have changed in the industrial society. Humans were no longer valuable resource like they were in the agrarian society. Instead, machines took over the job and humans were there to supervise and remain in the office. Thus, less people were needed and more people meant more money to be spent. In other words, people have become liabilities. Therefore, many families reshaped accordingly into a small family, even to the extent of single households. To sum, social restructuring was the main cause of the downsizing of Korean families.
There are various outcomes from the changes in the family size in Korea. Most distinctive one is that bond between people and family members have become weaker. In other words, people have stronger tendency to be an individualists. In the past, agriculture required teamwork and unity. Everyone had to do his or her part and everything had to be done in relatively strict manner. Otherwise, the farming would be ruined and everyone would have to starve. Therefore, working closely within the family and to some extent with the neighbors was crucial. However, in the industrialized society, individual ability is highly valued compared to the agrarian societies. As a result, people focus more on their work and their small group's work. They are already too busy doing their own work and have little time to take care of the others. Consequently, the restructuring of Korean families have led more and more Koreans to become individualists.
Koreans have rapidly changed from the people who survived on the family farming from making cars and office people. This has greatly influenced the shape of our families and now we are living in a society with smaller families than the past. The small families eventually changed Koreans from collectivists to individualists because the value of man power has decreased significantly. Although it may seem these changes are negative, it is because the change is still new to many Koreans. So Koreans should leave behind what is negative from the past and embrace the bright sides of the newly formed society.
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