Babies born to unmarried women to top 10,000

By Kim Bo-eun

The number of babies born to unmarried women is expected to surpass 10,000 this year after steadily increasing for some years, Statistics Korea said Sunday.

The agency said 9,959 babies were born to single mothers last year, up 3.3 percent, or 320 babies, from 2010.

Last year’s figure is the highest since 1981, when the government started keeping track of the numbers.

“Although we cannot pinpoint a cause for the rise of babies born to single women, a shift seems to have taken place from the traditional, conservative perception of marriage,” said a Statistics Korea official.

Experts also view that the change in the perception of such children as well as efforts to reduce abortions ― which are technically illegal ― has played a role.

Although the children are mostly born to single moms, a significant number also seem to have been born to unmarried couples who live together, experts said.

The agency said approximately 2.1 babies per every 100 were born outside of marriage last year.

The rate of such births to all newborn babies still remains the lowest among member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Korea had the lowest such rate at 2.11 percent last year, followed by Japan. The average rate for OECD member states stood at 36.3 percent in 2009.

Despite Korea’s relatively low rate, it still sends some 1,000 adoptees to foreign countries every year. It is the fourth largest “exporter” of babies to the United States.

“It is important that the society embraces children born to various forms of families including single moms and unwed couples,” said a researcher at Korea Development Institute.

The number of babies born outside marriage fell to around 5,000 in 1989 before surging to above 9,000 in 1994 and falling to a record low of 4,196 in 1997. Since 2003, the figure has shown steady growth, the agency said.