Why women claim their right `not to have a kid`

By Shin Hae-in

Kwon Myung-jin, married for five years, made a big decision on New Year`s Day - she decided to become a mother.

With her parents overjoyed with the decision, she felt somewhat proud of herself for deciding to take the big step.

But after talking through childcare plans with her husband, Kwon realized that she was not at all ready. Although a social concept had pushed her to make the decision, reality told her that becoming a working-mom in Korea was still close to impossible.

"People kept on asking me when I was to have a baby, some even wondering if I was infertile. And I unconsciously felt guilty about playing a role in Korea`s low birthrate," she said. "I had been driven toward a belief that I had a duty to give birth, when the truth was that I did not want a baby at all."

<**1>With the nation`s dwindling birthrate heralding a serious shortfall in the working population in less than three decades, the government is striving to tackle the issue by coming up with various economic support plans to encourage married couples to have children.

Families and society are also doing their part by determinedly convincing women of the importance of their role as a mother.

But many women like Kwon appear to feel that all these efforts are somewhat off the point. Since when did Korean women become so against the idea of childbirth? Is it simply that the country has entered a new era, or is the nation`s inefficient maternity policy the real reason behind the falling birthrate?

According to research by the National Statistic Office, married couples without kids accounted for 22.2 percent of the 15.8 million Korean households last year, outpacing the number of three-member families - mother, father and child - which accounted for 20.9 percent.

The rate of four-member families of a mother, father and two children - which has been perceived as the "standard family structure" in Korea - dropped to 27 percent from 31.1 percent in 2000. The percentage of five- or more-member families fell below 10 percent for the first time in a decade.

The falling birthrate is even creating severe financial hardships for local fertility clinics. An obstetrician in Busan killed himself late last year, unable to face his growing debt. Over 120 obstetrics hospitals closed down due to the lack of patients last year.

"The government has to admit that it is partly responsible for the doctor`s suicide. Facing an era with no women in childbirth facilities and no obstetricians, it is the government`s duty to do something immediately," said Ku Byung-sam, the head of the Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

<**2>Last year, the government issued new maternity measures to support working moms. Under the policy, wages paid to female employees at mid-tier companies during their three-month maternity leave are fully covered by the state employment insurance program and government budget.

Starting March, the government also plans to increase the maternity leave wages to 500,000 won a month from the current 400,000 won. The paid leave will also apply to mothers of up to three-year-old infants from the current one-year-olds, meaning that mothers can use their three months of leave anytime up to the time the child is four years old.

But according to the KSOG`s survey on 853 married and childless women in their 20s to 30s, not many regard the government`s plan very helpful.

Some 67 percent said they were delaying childbirth due to childcare problems and economic reasons, and 87 percent said the government`s maternity policy is insufficient for their needs.

When the government released its "Vision 2030" last month - an in depth welfare plan based on Sweden and other advanced European countries` welfare models - it faced vehement criticism in economic circles. Korean society is not ready for such a system and the national budget will run out in less than five years, they said.

Amid the controversy, the main goal of the plan - to fully support working mothers by building more public nurseries and handing out more economic support - appears to be unachievable.

"I don`t think the government and the society fully accepts the idea that childcare is not just the mother`s role anymore. It`s not like I`m not getting pregnant because I can`t afford to milk my baby. It`s after the birth that really matters. Who is going to look after and teach the baby when I`m at work?" asked Yoon Son-ha, a 28-year-old office worker.

"Last year, my mother put her foot down and said she would no longer take care of her grandkids. I don`t blame her since it wasn`t her job to begin with and she has every right to ask for freedom. But after this, it became clearer that I would not have a baby for a very long time."

The decreasing birthrate is not only a problem for Korea but now a global phenomenon.

Western countries, which faced low childbirth before Korea and Japan, successfully overcame the problem by first examining the issue from a completely different social concept.

For example, France, Sweden and Finland came up with prompt comprehensive plans to grant legal status to babies born in de facto marriages - couples that have not registered marriage. The plans also included supporting companies to run nurseries in offices for working mothers. They accepted the idea that childcare and education were not burdens for individual families anymore; They were matters to be solved on a whole society basis.

"The birthrate is falling at a much faster rate now. While it took over 15 decades in Western countries, Korea is expected to face a totally different population structure in less than 25 years," said Cho Hyun-mi, chief of the childcare department at the Institute for the Future. "Unless we move faster, Korea will be left with a serious economic and social depression."

Korea`s patriarchal family concept appears to be another obstacle in tackling the issue more actively. Knowing that the decreased working population will seriously threaten the nation in the years to come, the society is still against babies born to de facto marriages and immigrants

"The traditional family concept, inequality of the two genders, rigidness of the labor market, high education fees and housing prices, and lack of family policies are, as a whole, making it harder for women to have babies," said Cho. "But what I see as the core problem is the fact that the society is still not ready to address the issue from a completely different viewpoint. Such inflexibility is preventing the nation from taking active countermeasures."

Many women agree that social concepts are a leading cause of stress.

"Why can`t society just admit the fact that women have the right not to have children? The reasons `you might get lonely when you`re older,` `it is only natural for women to give birth` and `one`s life can never be full without children,` just aren`t enough to push me to have children," said 30-year-old Choi Jin-joo. "Neither the government nor society have the right to force us to have children when they cannot even support our needs."

Choo Yoo-jin, 37, said that social prejudice was stressful enough to cause her psychological problems.

"I can never understand why people think that childless couples are either selfish or immature," she said. "My husband and I made the decision based on our beliefs of life. One day, I might regret the fact I didn`t have a child when I was physically able to, but I still want people to respect my choice."

Kim Sun-ok of the Korea Women Foundation emphasized the need of a new social recognition toward childbirth.

"Giving birth can not be a compulsory request and these women are delaying or refusing pregnancy for clear reasons," she said. "A realistic maternity measure should be based upon recognition that having children is no longer the most natural thing in the world."

"Women won`t suddenly decide to have children for some hundreds of thousands of won. What they really need is understanding."

(hayney@heraldm.com)