The Effect of Multicultural Family Support Service: Examining Integration with Immigrant Wives in South Korea

Since 2009, Multicultural Family Support Service (MFSS) has provided service to immigrant wives designed to improve their integration, yet little research exists to support its effectiveness. Hence, this study is aimed to empirically estimate the net effect of MFSS, and its quantifying effect on immigrant wives' integration, using propensity score matching to reduce selection bias. Utilizing the 2012 National Survey on Multicultural Families, which examines the actual conditions of multicultural families, this study extracts immigrant wives (N = 12,324), including service users (n = 6,012) and non–service users (n = 6,312). The findings show that the extent of four dimensions of integration—citizenship, employment, Korean language proficiency, and life satisfaction—between service users and non–service users is not significantly different. This indicates that MFSS may be failing to improve immigrant wives' integration, and improvements are recommended. This study concludes that case management, cultural competence, and management reflecting regional differences are ways to improve integration.