성별화된 빈곤과 사회적 배제 - 저소득 여성가구주의 빈곤대응 방식을 중심으로 - = Gendered Poverty and Social Exclusion - In terms of coping with poverty of the low-income woman head of the household -

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This article starts by questioning the existing view that poverty of the woman head of the household is caused by 'family disintegration'. So far the poverty of the woman head of the household has been approached as a social problem arising from desertion of the male breadwinner. The general conception that the poverty of the woman head of the household is the outcome of 'family disintegration' has made invisible the problem of gendered poverty. Therefore this article focuses on the problem of gendered poverty in terms of coping with poverty of the low-income woman head of the household. This study analyses the traits of gendered poverty through the life stories of ten women who are now heads of a household. The different exclusion experiences this study's participants had before they became part of the low-income class led to different interpretations of their situations and different responses toward them. For the women who had been poor since their childhood and are still poor in their adulthood, poverty was not the result of divorce, but divorce made visible what had been invisible. Poverty for them was something that had been accumulated through the years of their marriage, but not fully recognized until divorce. In the new members of the low-income class group women, poverty was a process that accompanied escape from the husband's control and authority, but it was also a process through which they experienced conflict in their identity. The work experience they had before they became part of the low-income class plus the sexual discrimination of the labor market, the responsibility of raising the children and the myth of the family threatened the work right of the woman head of the household and aggravated their social isolation, thereby frustrating their efforts to come out of poverty. So far the social policy and social work programs regarding the woman head of the household have been centered around material and economic support. These women were approached in terms of defect, problem and deficiency. This study has its significance in that it calls for a change of perspective in order for the social support for the woman head of the household to be effective in helping her achieve independence.

국문 초록 (Abstract)

이 논문은 저소득 여성가구주의 빈곤대응 방식을 중심으로 이들이 경험하는 빈곤의 성별적 특성과 배제의 다차원적 차원을 분석하고자 하였다. 이를 위하여 저소득 여성가구주 10명을 심층면접한 자료를 분석하였다. 여성가구주들은 저임금과 고용불안정 그리고 장기간의 실업에 의해 노동시장으로부터 배제를 경험하고 있다. 그러나 빈곤층이 되기 이전의 삶의 경험에 따라서 빈곤에 대응하는 방식에서 차이를 나타내고 있다. 어린시절부터 가난했으며 성인이 된 이후에도 빈곤한 여성들은 고된 노동의 반복과 심리적인 고통으로 생존의 유일한 수단인 건강을 잃을 가능성이 높은 반면, 빈곤층으로 유입된 여성들은 달라진 자신의 사회적 지위를 수용해야 하는 과정에서 상당한 정체성 갈등을 겪고 있다. 이와 함께 배우자의 양육비 지급 불이행, 보육 서비스 지원이 미약한 조건에서 자녀양육에 대한 책임을 여성가구주 혼자 떠맡게 되면서 빈곤에 더욱 취약하게 되었다. 자녀양육 책임에 의한 배제는 직종선택 제약, 자녀들의 교육기회 박탈로 연결되면서 빈곤의 세습화 가능성이 나타났다. 또한 가족 내에서 배제되어 왔던 경험은 가족 신화에 의한 배제와 맞물리면서 사회적 고립과 자아배제로 나타났다. 지지집단의 부재는 이들이 성차별적인 노동시장 구조에 맞서 싸울 힘을 갖기 어렵게 하는 또 하나의 차별로 나타났다. 이러한 연구결과는 여성들이 경험하는 빈곤은 단지 소득결핍이라는 물적 차원의 문제로만 환원될 수 없으며, 다차원적인 사회적 배제의 결과라는 점에서 정치적 임파워먼트를 포괄하는 통합적인 접근이 요구되어야 한다는 사실을 보여주고 있다.

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