Family Attitudes and Gender Role Divisions of Married Women in Contemporary Vietnam and Korea

This study attempts to examine family attitudes and gender role divisions of married women in contemporary Vietnam and Korea. Drawing data from the 2003 Vietnam Family Study and the 2005 Korean Marriage and Fertility Study, this study investigated 1) attitudes of married women toward marriage, cohabitation, divorce, and having children, 2) decision making on household expenditures, and 3) household work division between husband and wife. The results showed that married Korean women were less inclined toward traditional family attitudes regarding marriage and children than married Vietnamese women. Decision on routine household expenditures was made and household work was done mostly by the wife in the two countries. In comparison, married Vietnamese men took more responsibilities for important financial decisions and child education than married Korean men. These overall findings imply that patriarchical family and gender role norms were preserved to larger extent in contemporary Vietnam than in Korea.