Does having children matter? Associations between transitions in work-family role combinations and depressive symptoms among married women in Korea

Abstract

Although having a variety of roles is generally beneficial for mental health, little is known about the relationships between work-family role combinations and depressive symptoms among married women in Korea, where child rearing is strongly considered a mother's responsibility. This study examines how the four types of work-family role combinations may be associated with depressive symptoms among married Korean women younger than 50 years old. Data were collected from 2012 through 2020 in five surveys by the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women & Families. In total, 4811 married women (14,851 person-period observations) were analyzed using regression models with fixed effects. This enabled estimation of the within-person effects of transitions in work-family role combinations on depressive symptoms. Work-family role combinations were categorized as follows based on whether respondents had a job or at least one child: having both worker and mother roles, having a worker role only, having neither a worker nor a mother role, and having a mother role only. The findings indicate that married women who had only a mother role had more severe depressive symptoms than the other three groups. However, after controlling for whether respondents had a preschool-aged child, only those with both worker and mother roles had significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms compared with those with a mother role only. This study suggests that transitioning to being a working mother from a full-time mother may benefit the mental health of married Korean women. Furthermore, whether married women have a child critically impacts their mental health more than the number of roles. Raising a preschool-aged child seems to potentially be especially stressful for married Korean women. Working outside the home can protect the mental health of married Korean mothers who are affected by the social pressure to immerse themselves in child-rearing.