인구소멸과 헌법 – 비혼출산과 그 자녀 보호를 중심으로 –

초록

The unprecedented Population Decline facing Korean society is closely linked to changing life attitudes among younger generations and the growing tendency to avoid traditional marriage. In this transitional context, marriage no longer functions as the exclusive form of family formation, and its normative meaning is being rapidly redefined. Accordingly, the state is required to develop responses grounded in constitutional principles that encompass diverse family forms, with particular emphasis on the institutional recognition of non-marital cohabitation and the elimination of discrimination against non-marital children as key policy tasks. Eliminating structural discrimination against non-marital children and systematically addressing related legal issues constitutes the most effective pathway to ensuring that non-marital families can lead to stable childbirth and child-rearing. Regardless of differences in the legal binding force or scope of protection afforded to adult partnerships, any discrimination between children born within marriage and non-marital children cannot be justified under any circumstances. In particular, as family diversity expands and family formations independent of marriage increase, proactive constitutional measures are required to prevent unjust disadvantages for non-marital children who remain in institutional blind spots. Based on this problem awareness, this study aims to establish the constitutional foundation of non-marital cohabitation and to construct an effective protection framework for non-marital children. To this end, it conducts a comparative legal analysis, with particular reference to German discussions, in order to reconstruct the constitutional relationship between marriage and non-marital cohabitation within the Korean Constitution, and to propose measures for the protection of non-marital children, thereby seeking a constitutional response to the crisis of Population Decline.

키워드