Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk, Urges Establishment of Practical Support Measures for Children Born to Unmarried Parents... 92% Do Not Receive Childcare Expenses

Urgent Need for Legal and Institutional Reform Awareness Shift
Over 10,000 Nationwide Cases of Out-of-Wedlock Births

Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, instructed on the 2nd at the 25th Low Birthrate and War Innovation Countermeasures Meeting held at the Gyeongbuk Provincial Office to "review measures that can practically support children born out of wedlock within the region."

This is a proactive policy response by Gyeongbuk Province to the issue of children born out of wedlock, including unmarried births, recently sparked by top star G's unmarried childbirth.

Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk

Gyeongbuk Province currently reports that 92% of unmarried birth families do not receive child support from the other party, indicating the need for support measures, legal system improvements, and social awareness enhancement.

The province decided to prioritize projects that can be implemented locally first and collaborate with the government, National Assembly, and others on legal and institutional improvements requiring cooperation.

First, to provide practical support for children born out of wedlock within the region, the target of low birthrate policy support will shift from focusing on parents and legal marriages to focusing on the child. To break the stigma, misunderstandings, and incorrect prejudices against children born out of wedlock, social awareness campaigns will be conducted in cooperation with private low birthrate overcoming headquarters.

Additionally, to ensure proper support for children born out of wedlock and families outside marriage, the province plans to propose the introduction of a (tentatively named) "Co-parent Family Registration System" to the government and request legislation from the National Assembly.

To this end, policy specifics will be developed through legal system improvements for proper support of unmarried families, research on support policies for extended families, expert forums, and National Assembly seminars.

So far, Gyeongbuk Province has reviewed the correlation between the proportion of births outside marriage and the total fertility rate, as well as registration systems for unmarried families in major OECD countries to overcome low birthrates.

According to Gyeongbuk Province, OECD countries where births outside marriage exceed the average have a total fertility rate of 1.63, surpassing the OECD average fertility rate of 1.56. Major OECD countries have established and implemented legal protections and social support systems for unmarried families.

Common features of the Netherlands' Registered Partnership, France's Civil Solidarity Pact (PACS), and Sweden's Cohabitation Act include granting registered cohabiting families rights and obligations equivalent to those of married couples.

Furthermore, the average out-of-wedlock birth rate in OECD countries reaches 41.9%, and in South Korea, positive perceptions that children can be born without marriage have steadily increased to 37.2%, indicating a matured environment for policy development.

South Korea's out-of-wedlock birth rate (2023 birth statistics) has steadily increased from 2.5% in 2020 to 3.9% in 2022 and 4.7% in 2023 (19,000 people). In the 2024 Statistics Korea social survey, 37.2% responded that children can be born without marriage, continuing an upward trend since 22.4% in 2012.

Governor Lee Cheol-woo stated, "Now, South Korea must establish a legal and institutional support system for unmarried and other out-of-wedlock births and introduce various extended family systems based on community restoration." He emphasized, "In Gyeongbuk, which has declared war on low birthrates, we will immediately prepare and implement policies that can practically support children born out of wedlock and expand them nationwide to ensure related laws and systems are promptly established."

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