Review on the Research of National Assembly Research Service, Current Policies Regarding Unwed Mothers with Children and Policy Suggestions

Urgent Attention Needed for Unwed Mothers Over 24 Years Old

Hee-jung Kwon

Executive Director, Korean Unwed Mothers Support Network

The issue of unwed teenaged mothers' right to learn has been recently making headlines nearly every day. It was hard to see or hear people talking about “unwed mothers” and their “rights and interests” even two years ago when I first started advocacy activities for unwed mothers. There used to be only two views on unwed mothers at that time: one that criticized them for reasons of sexual morality and the other that took pity on them by viewing them as “victims.” Conclusions drawn from those two views were both unsatisfactory: the former has led them to justify abortions without regard as to their own will or to relinquish babies for adoption. Even though the second option could have made it possible to provide financial support and professional educational opportunities to unmarried mothers, they still could not completely free themselves of social and self-imposed stigmas and feelings of lifetime guilt.

In only two years since then everything has changed. For instance, the legislature passed a bill that allocates a national budget to support the Chungsonyun Hanbumo (young single parents) ages 18 to 24 in 2009 as a part of a comprehensive plan for abortion prevention. Through this bill, young single parents earning under 150% of the minimum cost of living get financial aid such as child support, medical insurance, matched savings, and education support to complete high school within five years (at the latest) until they become 25.

I agree that such changes for teenaged or young unwed mothers are innovative and more than welcome, however, these changes can also backfire. One of the widely held prejudices in Korean society is that unwed mothers are in their teens or early 20s. The recent increase in attention and coverage of the young single parents is strengthening this bias. The truth is that only 10% of unwed mothers are in their teens or early 20s. This of course does not mean that we do not need to pay attention since they are such a small proportion of unwed mothers. The point is that 90% of those who are also in such desperate need have not been fully taken care of, while the 10% were receiving all the attention. Just like the right to learn is guaranteed for young single mothers, the right to work and housing must be secured for adult single mothers, who are over 24 years old. It is time for us to think about this 90% of estimated unmarried parents.

Considering all of this, the issue of Current Policies Regarding Unwed Mothers with Children and Policy Suggestions, authored by Joo-eun Cho, Legislative Investigator at the National Assembly Research Service and published by in July 2010 is very timely and crucial.

The report points out that the "majority of childrearing unwed mothers are unlikely to receive necessary support from the current social welfare system, which does not reflect the cultural and social particularity that most unwed mothers are suffering: isolation from social activities and networks due to the stigma of a child born out of wedlock.” It continues to say that "most Sungin mihonmo (unwed mothers over 24 years old) who rear children are receiving no support from the government since the government policy is focused on supporting younger unwed mothers despite the fact that the choice to raise children is more likely made by older unwed mothers than among younger unwed mothers.”

Now the issue of the low birthrate is very controversial in South Korea. No policy maker and staff will want to overlook this issue if they are interested in increasing the birthrate and making “effective” policies, since this report points out a very important aspect regarding the current status and the needs of older unwed mothers who have a strong desire to keep their babies but have been totally neglected.

In our society, there have been misconceptions about older unwed mothers. That is, people tend to think that adults are supposed to handle their own problems better. Far from it, older single parents are not in any better situation than young single mothers even though the difficulties of these two groups are different in some aspects.

First of all, the social and cultural pressure and stigma that unwed mothers go through in this country do not vary by age. For younger mothers, they might lose their education; for older mothers, they might lose their entire career. Both are likely to be isolated and abandoned by their own parents and families. Whether she is in her teens or thirties, she will experience the father of her baby leaving her without any concern for the pregnancy. Whether she became an unwed mother as a teenager or at the age of thirty, they share the exact same worries about their daily lives revolving around a newborn baby who requires 24 hour care. Being older and experienced does not give better chances to unwed mothers when they have job interviews. Neither have their own homes to live in. Both young and older unwed mothers need support and help from others until their children become old enough for the mothers to become independent and recover from their educational and vocational isolation.

This report also emphasizes that the direction of future policies should be aimed at breaking away from the conventional, which is used to giving support through social welfare facilities and should be aimed at expanding services to the community. If comprehensive services such as living costs, child care support, and housing are available to mothers who are living in the community, there will be less negative impact on their children’s lives while they are growing up. This will eventually save future additional welfare costs for the society as a whole, the report highlights.

During the 1980s, the state of Vermont in the US became one of the first states that responded to such concerns to provide services more widely to the community through the Parent/Child Center. It was possible and successful because they had a strong belief that early intervention could reduce additional social costs.

I hope more unwed mothers, who are over 24 years old and who are keeping and raising their babies despite all the stigmas can receive necessary welfare services by incorporating and implementing several institutional improvements and policy suggestions from this report. If realized, the benefits from these policies will be enjoyed by our children who will lead the future.