Over 1,000 Teenage Mothers Give Birth Annually... Increase in Direct Childcare

Suffering from Poverty and Housing Instability
Home Visit Services, etc.
Support Needed Reflecting the 'Youth' Specificities

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] More than 1,000 children are born annually to teenage mothers in South Korea. As the number of teenage parents raising their children directly increases, there are calls for support measures such as home visit services.

According to statistics cited in a report titled "Tasks for the Full Introduction of Home Visit Services to Resolve the Isolation of Teenage Unmarried Mothers," released by Heo Minsuk, a legislative researcher in the Health, Welfare, and Women’s Team of the Social and Cultural Research Office under the National Assembly Legislative Research Service on the 17th, the total number of children born to teenage mothers over the past five years is 8,081.

The number of teenage mothers itself is on a declining trend. In 2015, there were 2,227 teenage mothers, which decreased to 1,922 in 2016, 1,526 in 2017, and 1,300 in 2018.

As of 2019, the number of teenage mothers was 1,106. Most gave birth to their first child, but 51 teenagers gave birth to a second child. There were cases of second children born to 15-year-olds. Among 19-year-old teenage mothers, there were even cases of giving birth to a fourth child.

Although the number of teenage unmarried mothers is decreasing, the number of those directly raising their children has increased. According to the report, although the subjects are not the same, the proportion of unmarried mothers raising their children compared to the number of births was 15.7% in 2016 and rose to 24.2% in 2019.

However, the report points out, citing various statistics, that "it is not difficult to guess that the majority of teenage unmarried mothers are raising their children in inappropriate environments and psychological and emotional conditions," highlighting that teenage unmarried mothers mainly suffer from poverty and housing instability.

Therefore, while support for living expenses and childcare costs is necessary, the report suggests that other support measures such as home visit services are also needed. In the United States, the 'Nurse-Family Partnership' program implements home visit services focused on prenatal and postnatal intensive care. Specially trained registered nurses visit low-income pregnant teenagers and mothers, providing regular care services until their first child reaches the age of two.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.