It is so exciting to see how quickly and thoughtfully Koreans are developing programs to support unwed mothers and their children!  As program funding expands, and policies become more supportive, a range of possible services will become possible.  While the needs of each mother and child will be different, my experience suggests that the sooner the family can be served in the community, the better.

Community based services are helpful for mothers because they provide a full range of opportunities: for education, for vocational training, for jobs, for parenting education and support, for health and mental health care, and for becoming a respected and contributing member of society.

They are equally beneficial for the children, who will get to know other children in the neighborhood before they start school. Attending childcare programs that promote the child’s positive development has been shown to be a strong factor for school success.

Serving unwed mothers in the community has also proven in most nations, to be a benefit to society.  Services in the community are typically less expensive than those provided in facilities (they don’t need twenty four hour a day staffing). They have the added benefit of providing services such as health care, childcare, parenting education, education and jobs more easily to all families with young children.   Indeed, it is the creation of caring communities, which are designed to help extremely vulnerable families, which improves life for all families.

Clearly there will always be a continuum of need because some unwed mothers may be very young, frightened, and undereducated. Housing and financial supports for them will be a challenge that a facility can help address. And the staff at facilities can help them gain confidence and skills by their love and example. But for the vast majority of unwed mothers, most nations have found that it is important to give them priority for services, and to treat them as much like other families as possible. 

One of the wonderful opportunities unfolding now in Korea, is being able to implement a range of supports and to think of them all as a system that helps mothers and children to be happy, healthy, and productive. As the different services work together, it will become easier for unwed mothers to move from feeling isolated and fearful to taking their rightful place in society as parents of the next generation.