Government Launches Initiative to Revise Terms Like "Career-Holding Women" and "Infant Stroller" to Eliminate Social Bias

Changing Language to Overcome Low Birthrate
"Child Born Out of Wedlock" to "Child," "Yumocha" to "Yuacha"
Public Opinions to Be Gathered Through Survey

The government has officially launched a comprehensive review to revise expressions related to marriage, childbirth, and parenting that may foster social prejudice or negative perceptions.

On June 3, the Presidential Committee on Low Fertility and Aging Society announced, "We have identified 47 expressions in laws and everyday language related to marriage, childbirth, and parenting that require revision." Of these, 34 are legal terms and 13 are terms commonly used in daily life.

The term 'career-interrupted women' is being considered for replacement with alternatives such as 'career-holding women' or 'career-connecting women' due to concerns about stigmatization effects. In everyday language, proposals have been made to replace terms rooted in gender role stereotypes, such as changing 'yumocha' (baby carriage) to 'yuacha' (infant stroller) and 'jipsaram/bakkat-saram' (wife/husband) to 'spouse.' Getty Images

This initiative comes in response to ongoing criticism that certain expressions, such as "parental leave" and "career-interrupted women," encourage workplace stigma or social labeling. The government officially announced this plan at the 13th Emergency Population Countermeasures Meeting held on May 29.

For 32 of the terms identified for revision, alternative expressions have already been proposed. For example, "parental leave" has been criticized for its negative connotation of "taking a break," which may discourage people from using the system. Alternatives such as "parenting focus period," "parenting immersion period," and "childcare support period" have been suggested. Additionally, "miscarriage/stillbirth leave," which evokes the experience of loss, is being considered for replacement with "recovery leave" or "mental care leave." The term "career-interrupted women" is being considered for replacement with alternatives such as "career-holding women" or "career-connecting women" due to concerns about stigmatization effects.

The term "child born out of wedlock," which appears in the Civil Act, may create a negative perception of children born outside a so-called "normal family." Therefore, alternatives such as "child" or simply "offspring" have been suggested. Other legal terms targeted for revision include: ▲"premature baby" to "early-born baby" or "preterm infant," ▲"dementia" to "cognitive decline disorder" or "cognitive disorder," ▲"sexual harassment" to "sexual bullying," and ▲"low birthrate" to "low births." In the area of everyday language, proposals have been made to replace patriarchal expressions such as "maternal/paternal grandmother" with simply "grandmother," to change "yumocha" (baby carriage) to "yuacha" (infant stroller), and to replace "jipsaram/bakkat-saram" (wife/husband) and "naejo/oejo" (wife/husband support) with "spouse" and "spousal support," respectively.

Medical staff are caring for a newborn in the neonatal unit at Ain Hospital, Michuhol District, Incheon.

The government plans to conduct an online public survey within this month on the 32 items for which alternative terms have been proposed, in order to gather opinions on the necessity of changing these terms and preferences for the alternatives.

For the 15 items that do not yet have proposed alternatives-such as "broken family," "maternal and child health," "person responsible for support," "direct lineal ascendants and descendants," and "children eligible for protection"-the government will prepare revision plans through additional expert review and consultations with relevant ministries.

The Presidential Committee on Low Fertility and Aging Society aims to finalize the revision plan through consultations with relevant ministries and submit a bill to the National Assembly during the regular session in September. The plan is to gradually introduce alternative expressions in legal terms, while first building social consensus on changes to everyday language through campaigns and other initiatives.