"Non-marriage is an individual autonomous choice... Institutional support needed for 'non-marital childbirth'"

To address South Korea's low birthrate and aging population issues, there is a call to institutionally embrace unmarried cohabitation like European countries and to grant legal status to unmarried cohabitants who have children, thereby supporting unmarried childbirth.

The Korea Future Population Research Institute (hereinafter Hanmiyun) held its 2nd regular seminar on the 20th at the POSCO Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, under the theme "Unmarried Childbirth as Population Policy," discussing ways to raise the domestic unmarried childbirth rate (2.9%), which is significantly lower than the OECD average unmarried childbirth rate (41.9%).

Kim Jong-hoon, chairman of Hanmiyun, said in his welcoming remarks, "Our society needs to more actively accept unmarried childbirth. The government must update laws and systems related to families to fit the times."

Kim Young-chul, professor of economics at Sogang University, who gave the keynote presentation that day, said, "It is easy to think that unmarried childbirth and unmarried cohabitation are legacies of an 'open mind,' but Western countries were not much different from us until the 1970s," suggesting that Korean society also has room for change within the next 30 to 40 years depending on institutional support.

He proposed a policy called the "Registered Partner Family System (tentative name)" that recognizes legal status for unmarried cohabitants who have children, including medical insurance and property rights. The policy includes ▲applying family welfare services such as registering as dependents under the National Health Insurance for cohabitants ▲recognizing them as legal spouses when signing surgical consent forms at hospitals ▲a separate property system allowing management and disposal of each person's assets ▲choosing the child's surname with parental agreement ▲and not forming kinship relations with the cohabitant's family. Notably, the term "partner family" is used instead of "cohabitation," which is emotionally difficult to accept in the Korean context.

In the subsequent panel discussion, experts pointed out that policies should focus on the child born to activate "unmarried childbirth." Jeong Jae-hoon, professor of social welfare at Seoul Women's University, said, "It is important to implement policies that support the child born regardless of whether the parents are unmarried or married," adding, "It is important to view unmarried childbirth not as a system but as a relationship."

Song Heon-jae, professor of economics at the University of Seoul, also said, "Policies should shift from being parent-centered to child-centered. Until now, population policies have been conducted on the premise of 'giving money if you have children,' and it has been taboo to implement childbirth policies for households that do not fit this mold," emphasizing, "If the state cannot provide for the child, inheritance tax should be boldly abolished so that the private sector can support the child."

Eun Ki-soo, professor at Seoul National University Graduate School of International Studies, said, "Before viewing unmarried childbirth as a population policy, it is necessary to respect it as an autonomous personal choice," adding, "Life born this way should be respected and embraced just like life born to married couples."

Although societal perception of unmarried cohabiting couples remains negative, there was also a suggestion that institutional changes could lead to changes in perception. Byun Soo-jung, research fellow at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, said, "Seven to eight years ago, it was socially difficult to talk about or disclose cohabitation, but the atmosphere has changed recently. There is no reason why perceptions of unmarried childbirth cannot change," adding, "If the system opens the way, it can lead to changes among the public."

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