Study on Response to Low Fertility and Population Aging - Comprehensive Study on Fostering Fertility and Marriage-Friendly Values for the Future Generations -

Abstract

▣ 주요연구내용

- 친 결혼관, 친 자녀관을 형성하기 위하여 사회적 노력을 규명

- 출산율 회복과 성평등을 동시에 실현시킬 수 있도록 하는 성평등한 가족문화 및 고용문화 조성 방안들을 강구

- 미래 가임세대의 생식보건 증진을 위한 효율적인 학교 성교육의 강화 방안들을 마련

- 학교교육을 통해 출산ㆍ가족 친화적인 가치관을 학습할 수 있도록 교과정 및 교과내용체계의 개선 방안을 제시하고, 실질적인 교수학습 지도 자료를 개발

- 학교이외에서의 가치관 교육으로 미취학아동교육, 가정교육, 사회교육의 방향을 도출

Continuation of low fertility will accelerate dwindling of population size as well as population ageing. Population ageing, meaning imbalance of population structure, will cause considerable costs and risks llilder complex societalsystem. Resultant from low fertility phenomenon, the labor supply will decrease, deteriorating labor shortage and labor ageing, which will be eventually linked to slowdown of economic growth. Along with the population ageing, demands of the elderly for social security such as pension and health insurance will considerably grow, increasing social burdens on the labor-prociding generations. Thus, low fertility phenomenon will eventually threaten to sustainable social development and individuals' quality of life. In Korea, low fertility phenomenon results mainly from complex interaction of socio-economic environment and various values. Specifically, values of the future generations are of importance in detennining marriage- and fertility- friendly, and gender equal society in the future. From this viewpoint, Gov't puts an emphasis on the policies on values in The 1st Basic Plan for Low Fertility and Aged Society(2006~2010). This study ainled at identifying values of the youth(children at primary, middle and high schools), building up marriage-, family- and gender equality-friendly values, and deliberating schemes for delivering such values to the youth. In more details, this study identified social efforts to form the people's values, friendly to marriage and children, explored the ways of fostering family culture and employment culture on the basis of gender equity to simultaneously achieve recovery of fertility level and gender equity, made suggestions for effective sexuality education at schools to improve the reproductive health of the future generations, and established the directions toward improving school curriculum and text-content system to educate the fertility- and family-friendly values, with development of education materials for teachers. According to the 2006 National Survey on Values of Marriage, Children, and Gender Equality for the Youth, Behaviors of marriage, fertility, and gender role of the children at schoos will not differ from their seniors, currently at ages of 20-30s. Then, the fertility rate in the future, after the children at schoos become old to the childbearing ages, will continue to maintain at the very low level. When the children at schools become old, their behaviors of marriage, fertility, and gender role cannot be determined not only by the improvement in social conditions. The children's values need to be changed in favor of marriage, children and gender equality. In doing so, the lifetime education system should be established, appropriate for each stage of growth development.