Ethnic Korean women living in Brazil are the most satisfied with life, while those in Guatemala are the least content, a study showed Monday. Those who live overseas also face difficulties in dealing with language barriers, cultural differences, racism and financial problems.

The research, written and published by the Korean Women’s Development Institute, surveyed 1,360 ethnic Korean women living in 20 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Japan, Russia, and Germany.
Each participant was asked to rate their level of satisfaction in life on a scale of 0 to 4, with 4 being the happiest. The average satisfaction level was 3.25. Those who live in Brazil had the highest level of satisfaction at 3.86, followed by residents in Japan and Russia at 3.83. Women living in Germany, Canada and the U.S. also had satisfaction levels above average.

“It is difficult to verify at this point the reasons behind the respondents’ satisfaction level in each country. In general, the satisfaction level tends to be higher in places where the country offers an environment where one is able to adjust to the culture smoothly and with relative financial stability at the start of the immigration,” researcher Lee Soo-yeon told The Korea Herald.

The research was partly organized for the Korean government to learn about women’s needs and challenges as ethnic minorities living abroad. South Korea’s Gender Ministry currently runs the Korean Women’s International Network that connects ethnic Korean women living overseas by allowing them to network with one another.

The survey also showed that women residing in Guatemala are the least content, with a satisfaction level of 2.95. Those in Columbia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and France also had satisfaction levels lower than the average.

One in four of the women surveyed, or 25 percent, said that the language barrier was one of the challenges they faced as an ethnic minority abroad. Another 21.1 percent said they experienced cultural conflicts, with 7.2 percent citing racism. More than 10 percent of the women surveyed also had conflicts with their children and faced financial difficulties.

Those who speak Korean and enjoy Korean cuisine as well as those in the earlier stages of immigrating overseas had a higher level of attachment to their Korean origin, researchers said.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)