[The Era of Non-Marriage] France's Non-Marital Birth Rate Exceeds 60%... Ours Is 2%

(17) Europe Struggling with Low Birthrate Finds a Turning Point
Changing Social Perspectives as a Solution to the Population Cliff
"Non-marital Births Symbolize Embracing Diverse Lifestyles"

Editor's NoteIn a world where marriage is not mandatory, encountering those who choose to remain single is no longer a strange experience. Who chooses to remain single, and why? The issue is not only society's biased views surrounding singlehood. There also exists a vague admiration toward it. We examine the pros and cons of the so-called 'single life.'

"In Catholic countries like Spain and Italy, the rate of childbirth outside marriage was considerably lower compared to other European countries. Until the early 2000s, it hovered around 10%, but over the past 20 years, the dam that had been holding back this trend has broken. The traditions upheld by Catholicism have simply crumbled."

On the 20th, at a seminar titled 'How Should We View Childbirth Outside Marriage as a Population Policy?' held at the POSCO Center in Seoul by the Korea Future Population Research Institute (hereafter KFP Institute), significant points related to the low birthrate issue were discussed.

At this event, Professor Kim Young-chul of Sogang University's Department of Economics mentioned the rising trend of childbirth outside marriage in European countries where Catholicism is the state religion, suggesting that Korea's future could change similarly depending on our actions. If the cold societal gaze toward childbirth outside marriage is softened and institutional support is provided, childbirth outside marriage could become the 'mainstream' in Korean society in 20 to 30 years.

Childbirth outside marriage refers to having children between unmarried men and women. In the past, our society rejected this by labeling such children as 'illegitimate.' Since childbirth was premised on marriage and children born outside so-called 'normal families' were not recognized, the rate of childbirth outside marriage in our society remains around 2%. In contrast, the OECD average rate of childbirth outside marriage is 42%, and France's rate exceeds 60%.

The KFP Institute, which hosted the seminar, is a private think tank established by HanmiGlobal, a mid-sized construction company, to find solutions to demographic issues. Its slogan is 'Companies Lead the Way to Population Recovery.' In other words, as the government has not presented effective solutions to population problems, even companies have joined the effort to address these issues.

The first seminar focused on immigration, while the second, held recently, focused on childbirth outside marriage. If immigration is an external transfusion, childbirth outside marriage can be seen as a method to increase births within Korean society.

However, our society is still not mentally prepared to accept childbirth outside marriage. According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family's Family Status Survey, public approval for 'childbirth outside marriage' increased only from 9.5% in 2015 to 15.4% in 2020.

Considering that the 2015 survey used a permissive phrase like 'It's okay to do ~,' while the 2020 survey used a more objective phrase like 'agree with ~,' it still means that over 80% of the public does not accept childbirth outside marriage. The ongoing controversy surrounding broadcaster Sayuri also supports this. Although she gave birth to a son two years ago as an unmarried woman after receiving sperm donation, our society continues to debate this issue.

The political sphere is also acknowledging these social changes, but many hurdles remain. At the end of last month, Justice Party lawmaker Jang Hye-young proposed the 'Childbirth Outside Marriage Support Act,' which amends the current law limiting assisted reproductive technology support to 'infertile couples,' allowing any woman who wishes to conceive to receive such support regardless of marital status.

Despite supporting childbirth outside marriage, this bill faced criticism from Christian groups due to suspicions that it would effectively legalize same-sex marriage. Christian organizations such as the Metropolitan Christian Federation argued that the bill would "increase the rate of childbirth outside marriage and cause a surge in illegitimate children."

Justice Party leader Lee Jeong-mi is giving a speech at the press conference for the proposal of the Family Composition Rights Three Acts (Marriage Equality Act, Non-Marital Childbirth Support Act, and Life Partner Act) held in front of the National Assembly Main Building on the morning of May 31. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Could childbirth outside marriage be a new solution to overcome practical difficulties and the population cliff? Changes in societal perception are a key variable.

If children born to unmarried cohabiting couples are not viewed as 'illegitimate' but accepted as members of our society, childbirth outside marriage could become a normal way of life rather than a deviation. A hopeful sign is the rapid change in young people's perceptions. Approval for childbirth outside marriage among young people rose from only 8.4% eight years ago to 23% in 2020.

Professor Jung Jae-hoon of Seoul Women's University offers insights worth listening to on this matter.

"All European countries have high rates of childbirth outside marriage, but differences exist even among them. In short, the increase in childbirth outside marriage did not cause the rise in birthrates; rather, it is the result of a higher level of acceptance of diverse lifestyles, which eventually led to increased birthrates. In this sense, childbirth outside marriage can be understood as one of the symbols of embracing diverse ways of life."

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