South Korea’s response to falling birth rates shows the world what not to do



Analysis South Korea’s response to falling birth rates shows the world what not to do Government offers piecemeal subsidies while ignoring systemic issues like gender inequality, as demographic crisis looms John LeeOctober 4, 2022 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON Image: fancycrave1 via Pixabay South Korea’s birth rate fell to the lowest in the world in 2020, then fell even further in 2021. But while the government keeps throwing money at the problem, its half measures have little hope of forestalling the coming demographic crisis. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s latest proposal to address chronic low fertility rates is representative of the government’s myopic approach to the issue: In a Facebook post on Sept. 27, the mayor said the country can alleviate the cost of raising children by hiring low-cost foreign nannies. The government has put forward similar proposals for years. For example, © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. LATEST ANALYSIS 01South Korea’s won faces a new test as foreign bond buying loses momentum 02Trump’s Russian diesel deal may leave South Korea’s refining boom intact 03Trump’s Alaska LNG claim shows who really runs the US-South Korea alliance 04South Korea’s missile defense push raises new questions over wartime stocks 05South Korea bank hacks expose weak links beyond core financial systems 06Lee-Zelensky feud exposes South Korea’s widening Ukraine policy dilemma 07Lee Jae Myung’s ‘pacemaker’ strategy tests South Korea’s leverage with Trump 08Trump’s Korea investment victory lap masks safeguards Seoul still controls

Analysis

South Korea’s response to falling birth rates shows the world what not to do

Government offers piecemeal subsidies while ignoring systemic issues like gender inequality, as demographic crisis looms

John LeeOctober 4, 2022

South Korea’s response to falling birth rates shows the world what not to do

Image: fancycrave1 via Pixabay

South Korea’s birth rate fell to the lowest in the world in 2020, then fell even further in 2021. But while the government keeps throwing money at the problem, its half measures have little hope of forestalling the coming demographic crisis.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s latest proposal to address chronic low fertility rates is representative of the government’s myopic approach to the issue: In a Facebook post on Sept. 27, the mayor said the country can alleviate the cost of raising children by hiring low-cost foreign nannies.

The government has put forward similar proposals for years. For example,

LATEST ANALYSIS

01South Korea’s won faces a new test as foreign bond buying loses momentum
02Trump’s Russian diesel deal may leave South Korea’s refining boom intact
03Trump’s Alaska LNG claim shows who really runs the US-South Korea alliance
04South Korea’s missile defense push raises new questions over wartime stocks
05South Korea bank hacks expose weak links beyond core financial systems
06Lee-Zelensky feud exposes South Korea’s widening Ukraine policy dilemma
07Lee Jae Myung’s ‘pacemaker’ strategy tests South Korea’s leverage with Trump
08Trump’s Korea investment victory lap masks safeguards Seoul still controls

South Korea’s response to falling birth rates shows the world what not to do

LATEST ANALYSIS

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John Lee