The reality of Korean society, where the burden of housework falls primarily on women, such as holding memorial services on holidays, seems to have affected the results of the survey. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — The gap between men and women is significant in the opinion of ancestral rites, a major topic for the upcoming Chuseok holiday.
According to a survey of 656 union members conducted by the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), 16.7 percent of men said they wanted their offspring to hold ancestral rites after their death.
On the other hand, only 2.4 percent of women said they wanted ancestral rites to be performed.
The ratio of women was also higher than men when asked whether they needed ancestral rites to be performed after their death.
Some 33.9 percent of female responders answered that they did not want or need ancestral rites, while 26.2 percent of male counterparts disagreed on the ceremony.
The reality of Korean society, where the burden of housework falls primarily on women, such as holding memorial services on holidays, seems to have affected the results of the survey.
According to the survey, 73.2 percent of the respondents said that women do most of the work for memorial ceremonies and men only chip in a little.
Only 21.5 percent of the respondents said that the entire family participated and divided the workload equally.
“The fact that only two percent of female workers said they wanted the rest of the family to set up their own ancestral rites shows the paradoxical reality they face,” the FKTU said.
D. M. Park (dmpark@koreabizwire.com)
