Changes in Attitudes toward Childbirth of North Korean Defector Women in Response to Changes from North Korea Parenting Act to South Korea Child Care Act

Kichae Min, Korea Nation University of Transportation

This study aims to analyze the changes in North Korean defector women's attitudes toward childbirth due to the change from North Korea ‘Parenting Act’ to South Korea ‘Child Care Act’. To this end, we first compare and analyze the laws of North and South Korea based on the analytical framework of ‘Content Systematization of Social Welfare Act: Normative Validity and Normative Effectiveness Criteria’. Next, based on the results of this comparative analysis of laws, we will attempt an in-depth case study of North Korean defector women. This study explores how North Korean defector women, who have experienced two worlds, North Korea and South Korea, change their attitudes toward childbirth according to changes in the laws surrounding them (from North Korean law to South Korean law), and what the contextual background is. This study suggests the gap between law and reality in North Korea, a party-state system, the maladaptation of South Korean society in the process of changing from welfare socialism to welfare capitalism, the vulnerability of childbirth due to South and North Korean childcare policies, and a customized childcare support system for North Korean defector women.

Keywords: Migrant Populations and Refugees, International Migration, Fertility, Mixed methods research

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