Change in Perception of Non-marital Births, Record Proportion of Illegitimate Children

With a positive perception of non-marital births spreading among men and women in their 20s and 30s, the proportion of births outside of marriage (illegitimate children) recorded the highest level ever last year.

According to the '2024 Birth Statistics' announced by the Statistics Korea on the 27th, in terms of legal marital status, the proportion of births within marriage was 94.2%, while the proportion of illegitimate children was 5.8%.

There were 13,800 illegitimate children, representing a 1.1 percentage point increase compared to the previous year.

The proportion of illegitimate children has shown a steady upward trend every year. By year, it increased from 2.5% in 2020 to 2.9% in 2021, 3.9% in 2022, 4.7% in 2023, and 4.8% in 2024. This phenomenon indicates that the changing societal perception of non-marital births is being reflected in the statistics.

Change in Social Perception of Non-marital Births

Park Hyun-jung, head of the Population Trends Division at Statistics Korea, explained, "Awareness that one can have children without getting married is spreading, and this is reflected in the statistics," adding that "the proportion of illegitimate children continues to rise every year."

Change in Perceptions of Non-marital Births and Cohabitation Among People in Their 20s and 30s

In fact, according to a survey conducted by the Korean Women's Development Institute released in May, the agreement rate on non-marital births significantly increased.

Among men in their 20s, the agreement rate rose from 32.4% in 2008 to 43.1% last year, while for women in their 20s, it increased from 28.4% to 42.4%.

In their 30s, 43.3% of men and 40.7% of women also agreed with non-marital births. Additionally, the approval rate for 'non-marital cohabitation' among men and women in their 20s and 30s exceeded 80%.

However, despite this change in perception, the non-marital birth rate in the Republic of Korea remains notably low at 4.7% in 2023, compared to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 41% in 2022. This illustrates that traditional family values continue to exert a strong influence in Korean society.

Last year, the number of newborns was recorded at 238,300, which was an increase of 8,300 (3.6%) compared to the previous year, and the total fertility rate was 0.75 children, rising by 0.03 (3.8%) from the previous year. This marks a slight rebound in the context of recent ultra-low fertility trends.

Birth Characteristics by Maternal Age and Marital Duration

Looking at the birth rate by maternal age, those in their early 30s had the highest rate at 70.4 births (per 1,000 women in that age group), followed by those in their late 30s (46.0) and late 20s (20.7).

The average maternal age at childbirth rose by 0.1 years to 33.7 years compared to the previous year.

The average paternal age remained the same as the previous year at 36.1 years. The age distribution of fathers showed the highest proportion in their late 30s at 37.5%, followed by early 30s (35.9%) and early 40s (14.7%).

When comparing with ten years ago, the proportion of fathers in their early 30s decreased by 9.1 percentage points, while that in their late 30s increased by 6.6 percentage points. This reflects an ongoing trend where men's marriage and childbirth ages are gradually rising.

Trend of Increasing Marriage and Birth Age Among Men

Looking at birth characteristics by marital duration, the average duration of marriage at the first childbirth remained similar to the previous year at 2.5 years.

For the second child, the duration was 5.0 years, and for the third child or more, it was 7.2 years.

The proportion of newborns born within two years of marriage was 35.0%, which was an increase of 1.1 percentage points compared to the previous year.

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