Abstract

The purposes of this study are: 1) To find out overall family life issues percieved by the middle-classhousewives in their forties. 2) To examine detailed aspects related to middle years crises, leisure activities, children issues, family economy issues, and housing issues. 3) To clarify solutions to, and provide basic data on family issues raised by the middle-class families. The middle-class housewives in their forties living in the Seoul area were the subject of the survey. The sample size analysed in this study was 422. Data were analysed by the frequency, mean, percentile, standard deviation, X2-test, analysis of variance, multiple classification analysis, analysis of multiple regression, and Scheffe-test as a post-hoc analysis. The conclusions are as follows: First, the middle-class housewives tend to give more importance on children issues, especially on academic achievement and career development. Second, family cohesion of middle-class families is comparatively high and intra-familial conflict is low, and middle years crisis of housewives is comparatively low, too. Third, the stability of middle-class families can be found in household economic management patterns. one fourth of the families own stocks and two fifths of the families own real estate except their own dwelling house. Be based on their property income add to their labor income, middle-class families are showed their economic stability, however, intra-class inequality is found, too. Fourth, the great part of middle-class families that possess their own house, tend to be unsatisfied with their housig scale, and a half of the families expect to enlarge their housing scale for more comfortable and convient living.

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