- Headline: “More Teenage Unwed Mothers”
- Source: Chosun Ilbo
- Date of Publication: January 13, 1974
- Summary:
The number of teenage unwed mothers is rising in Korea, emerging as a significant new social issue. This trend has gained prominence with the growth of industrial complexes that employ large numbers of teenage women, and the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs has announced plans to increase the number of facilities dedicated to supporting unwed mothers each year. Currently, 14 public and private child counseling centers, 10 temporary shelters for abandoned children, and 42 babies home (for children under 4) are available to care for illegitimate children of unwed mothers and match them with adoptive families. In addition, several organizations, including Salvation Army Yŏjagwan (home for single mothers), Korea Welfare Services (led by president Yeon-taek Tak), Grace Hall (Bongwon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul), and various religious and social welfare groups, offer assistance to unwed mothers, providing childbirth support, job training, and financial aid.
These centers, with capacities ranging from 15 to 35 people, offer free deliveries, housing for up to a year and a half, and subsidies for vocational training as part of self-reliance initiatives. However, these facilities are increasingly insufficient in the face of rising numbers of teenage unwed mothers.
President Yeon-taek Tak of Korea Welfare Services explains that teenage unwed mothers often fall into one of three categories: 1) who lack the ability to adapt to changes in the social environment and suddenly escape from parental control; 2) girls whose abnormal sexual interests develop due to the absence of proper home education, affection, and supervision; and 3) adolescent girls living in groups without any guidance or discipline. He stresses the importance of providing comprehensive sex education to young girls working in factories to prevent further derailment.
The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs plans to establish a new protective facility each year in major cities and provinces, combining childbirth services with vocational training, as the number of unwed mothers continues to grow and threatens to become an ongoing social problem. In the 1970s, media reports about the rise in unwed mothers have spread widely, accompanied by the active production of a narrative that depicted young women from impoverished families—particularly those who were young (teenagers), uneducated (from factory towns), and influenced by sexual curiosity—as the primary group becoming unwed mothers. This discourse, which framed unwed mothers as stigmatized individuals and subjects in need of prevention, was largely produced and disseminated by adoption agencies. In the early 1970s, the Christian Adoption Program of Korea (CAPOK) was a central figure in this discourse. From the mid-1970s onward, the four major government-authorized overseas adoption agencies emerged as the primary producers of this narrative in the media. Scholars also contributed to this framework by publishing studies that reinforced its legitimacy, while the government responded by developing a welfare system for unwed mothers and their children, including the expansion of shelters for unwed mothers. As a result, the number of babies adopted from unwed mothers increased dramatically, rising from 1,163 in the 1960s to 9,075 in the 1970s.
Reference: Kwon, Heejung. The Birth of Unwed Mothers: The History of Exiled Mothers (unofficial translation). Antonia’s Books, 2019.
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