The number of marriages and births in South Korea both increased in the second quarter, according to Statistics Korea on August 28. Marriages rose 17% year-on-year to 55,910, while births increased by 1.2% to 56,838.
The “2023 Birth Statistics” report, released on the same day, revealed that the proportion of babies born to unmarried parents, also known as nonmarital births, reached nearly 5% last year, a record high. Around 19,000 babies, or 4.7% of the total births, were born outside marriage, an increase of 1,100 from the previous year. This figure has more than doubled over the past five years, up from 2.2%.
Although this figure continues to rise, nonmarital births in South Korea are significantly lower compared to other countries. As South Korea struggles with one of the world’s lowest fertility rates, 0.72 as of last year, there have been calls to improve the country’s institutional system and culture, which are not supportive of childbearing and childrearing outside marriage.
Nonmarital births accounted for 62.2% of all births in France, 49.0% in the United Kingdom, 41.2% in the U.S. and 36.5% in Australia, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The only countries with lower rates than South Korea are Japan, at 2.4%, and Turkey, at 2.8%. Among the 37 OECD member countries (excluding Colombia, for which data is unavailable), 29 have nonmarital birth rates exceeding 30%. The OECD average stands at 41.9%.
In the 1960s, the nonmarital birth rate in the U.S. was around 5%. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, the rate was only about 7% in the 1970s. This changed as countries adjusted their systems to support childbearing and childrearing outside the framework of traditional marriage, which in turn contributed to an increase in nonmarital births.
Countries like France and the United Kingdom have redefined their definitions of “family” to allow cohabiting couples and their children to receive the same welfare benefits as married families. The U.S. and Australia have expanded access to in vitro fertilization for unmarried women, providing single women with more opportunities to have children without having to get married.
“South Korea’s persistent fertility crisis could be alleviated by promoting broader acceptance of diverse family structures,” the East Asia Forum, an academic journal published by the Australian National University, recently noted. “This could include lessening the stigma associated with single parenthood, particularly among women, by reducing the emphasis on traditional family structures.”
France, which has the highest rate of nonmarital births in the European Union, is known for its supportive policies for unmarried cohabiting couples and single women raising children. The most notable legal framework is pacte civil de solidarité, also known as PACS, which was introduced in 1999. PACS offers unmarried cohabiting couples similar legal rights and obligations to those who are married. Children born to PACS families receive the same welfare benefits as those born to married families, including free education and childcare allowances.
Since the introduction of PACS, the percentage of nonmarital births in France has risen significantly, from 41.7% in 1998 to 62.2% in 2020. PACS is credited with helping to slow down France’s declining fertility rate. France’s total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, dropped to 1.76 in 1998, rebounded to 2.02 in 2010, and stabilized around 1.8.
