The number of babies born out of wedlock in Korea last year increased for the ninth consecutive year to 10,000, accounting for 2.1 percent of all births in 2011. |
The number of babies born out of wedlock in Korea last year increased for the ninth consecutive year to 10,000, accounting for 2.1 percent of all births in 2011. According to Statistics Korea on Sunday, the figure rose 3.3 percent from 2010 to 9,959 last year, the highest since the data began to be compiled in 1981. The previous high was 9,741 babies in 1981 but the number fell to 5,200 in 1989. In 1994, it made an upward reverse to top 9,000. The figure again dropped to 4,200 in 1997 but has steadily increased since 2003. In the early 1980s, the high number of babies born to unmarried parents was due to lack of social awareness on contraception. The higher number in recent years, however, was linked to shifting social attitudes on marriage and childbirth. Consequently, the number of babies born out of wedlock among overall newborns in Korea rose to 2.1 percent last year, a steady increase from 1 percent in 2001, 1.5 percent in 2005, and 2 percent in 2009. The percentage of babies in Korea born to a single parent, however, remains one of the lowest among member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The organization’s average rate was just 11 percent in 1980 but increased to 36.3 percent in 2009. As of 2009, more than half of newborns were born out of wedlock in Iceland (64.1 percent), Mexico (55.1 percent), Sweden (54.7 percent) and France (52.6 percent). The figure in the UK was 45.4 percent and that of the Netherlands 41.2 percent. (Read by CJ Henderson. CJ Henderson is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
韓國去年出生的非婚生兒連續(xù)第九年數(shù)量上升,達到了1萬名,占2011年韓國新生兒總數(shù)的2.1%。 根據(jù)韓國統(tǒng)計局周日的數(shù)據(jù),去年婚外新生兒人數(shù)達到了9959名,相比2010年增加了3.3%,這是自1981年開始收集該數(shù)據(jù)以來的最高峰。 1981年也曾出現(xiàn)過非婚生兒的出生高峰(9741名),但這一數(shù)字在1989年回落至5200名。1994年,趨勢又發(fā)生逆轉(zhuǎn),婚外新生兒人數(shù)再度上揚,超過9000名。1997年這一數(shù)字再次回落到4200名,但自2003年以來婚外新生兒人數(shù)一直不斷增加。 在20世紀80年代早期,婚外新生兒人數(shù)多是因為社會上的非法同居父母缺乏避孕意識。近年來婚外新生兒人數(shù)增加則是因為社會對婚姻和生子的態(tài)度的轉(zhuǎn)變。 結(jié)果,韓國去年出生的非婚生兒增加到全國新生兒總數(shù)的2.1%,而在2001年這一數(shù)字是1%,2005年是1.5%,2009年是2%,呈不斷上升的趨勢。 韓國由單身母親所生的小孩比例一直是經(jīng)濟合作與發(fā)展組織成員國中最低的。該組織成員國的這一比例在1980年平均只有11%,而在2009年增至了36.3%。 2009年,冰島、墨西哥、瑞典和法國超過半數(shù)的新生兒是非婚生兒,冰島為64.1%,墨西哥為55.1%,瑞典為54.7%,法國為52.6%。英國的這一數(shù)字為45.4%,荷蘭為41.2%。 相關(guān)閱讀 (中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯:Julie) |
Vocabulary: compile: 收集(資料等) top: 高于,超過 contraception: 避孕 |