[NPR] South Korea’s single moms struggle to remove social stigma

Monday was Single Mother’s Day in South Korea, an effort by civic groups to raise awareness of Korean society’s unwed moms. (Yonhap)

[NPR]

Monday marked a different kind of Mother’s Day in South Korea. It was Single Mother’s Day, an effort by civic groups to raise awareness of Korean society’s unwed moms.

Despite Korea’s rapid economic advancement, the country has yet to catch up to the notion of nontraditional families. Single moms are still forced into the shadows of society — ostracized by family members, discriminated against at work and all the while, trying to raise children without a network of support.

“We want the society to accept that unwed mothers are just women as well, they’re members of society and they have a right to be happy,” says Choi Hyung-sook, an organizer of a Sunday rally and march for single moms.

Choi says that choosing to raise her son alone in this tradition-bound society meant such a social stigma that her family cut off all ties with her, which haven’t been restored. And it cost her a string of jobs.

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