The Impact of Parenting Difficulties on the Depression of Employed Single Mothers in South Korea - an Analysis of the Moderating Effect of Employment Status -

Background and Purpose: Female-headed single-parent families account for a large proportion of single-parent families in Korea, which is the result of the Intensive Mothering Ideology. Since many single mothers are responsible for work and nurture alone, they are more likely to have parenting difficulties which increase their level of depression. Among employed single mothers, those with unstable jobs are more vulnerable to depression due to their employment instability. However, little research comprehensively examined single mothers' difficulties in terms of work and nurture. Employment instability can intensify the impact of parenting difficulties on single mothers’ mental health. Thus, this study aims to examine the effects of parenting difficulties and employment status on depression of employed single mothers and to verify the moderating effect of employment status based on the stress-vulnerability model. Especially, parents with school-age children need to help their children adapt to the school environment, and achieve educational attainment. Therefore, this study focuses on single mothers with school-age children who have additional responsibilities and difficulties.

Methods: A Survey on the Status of Single-Parent Families in 2018, which was conducted by the Korean Women’s Development Institute and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family was used for analysis. Among 2,500 participants in the survey, 988 employed single mothers with school-age children were selected. Parenting difficulties, an independent variable, was measured as the sum of eight questions composed of a four-point Likert scale, and depression, a dependent variable, was measured with Patient Health Questionnaire-9(PHQ-9). The employment status, a moderating variable, was processed into a dummy variable by setting regular workers as a reference group. Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis was conducted by SPSS 26.0 to test the moderating effect.

Results: Higher levels of parenting difficulties(β=.291, p<.001) and temporary employment(β=.109, p<.001) resulted in higher levels of depression. Also, there was a moderating effect of employment status in the relationship between parenting difficulties and depression of employed single mothers(β=.121, p<.001). Lastly, age(β=-.110, p<.001), self-reported health(β=-.344, p<.001), and social support(β=.072, p<.05) had significant negative effects on the depression of employed single mothers.

Conclusion: Based on the study results, the following implications and suggestions are possible. First, it is necessary to examine single-parent support policies in South Korea and expand support policies for better work-life balance. Second, customized care support should be provided to relieve the parenting burden of employed single mothers with school-age children. Third, expanding public service and strengthening its effectiveness is necessary to prevent and treat temporarily employed single mothers’ depression based on continuous monitoring for health inequality according to their employment status. Fourth, intervention for improving the unstable employment environment and the expansion of support policies to alleviate the stress and vulnerability of employed single mothers are needed. Lastly, the self-help group that provides social support to employed single mothers is required to alleviate their parenting difficulties and depression.