{"id":2199086,"date":"2022-10-04T09:17:09","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T09:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2199086"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:11:30","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:11:30","slug":"south-koreas-response-to-falling-birth-rates-shows-the-world-what-not-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/10\/south-koreas-response-to-falling-birth-rates-shows-the-world-what-not-to-do\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea\u2019s response to falling birth rates shows the world what not to do"},"content":{"rendered":"
South Korea\u2019s birth rate fell to the <\/span>lowest in the world in 2020<\/span><\/a>, 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.<\/span><\/p>\n Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon\u2019s latest proposal to address chronic low fertility rates is representative of the government\u2019s 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 <\/span>hiring low-cost foreign nannies<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The government has put forward similar proposals for years. For example, <\/span>a budget proposal<\/span><\/a> released last month said the country will provide every household with a newborn child $486 (700,000 won) each month starting in 2023. The government will also pay $243 per month (350,000 won) to families with babies between one and two years old.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet despite such measures, South Korea\u2019s birth rate has dropped six straight years to a low of just 0.81 expected births per woman in 2021, compared to 1.73 in the U.S. and 1.42 in Japan. If current trends continue, the U.N. estimates South Korea\u2019s population of 51 million could <\/span>halve<\/span><\/a> by the end of the century.<\/span><\/p>\n Such a dramatic population decline could have disastrous consequences. It would mean there wouldn\u2019t be enough people to sustain the economy, finance the government\u2019s pension and health care programs, look after its aging population or conscript into the military.<\/span><\/p>\n To reverse this, South Korean policymakers will need to interrogate the underlying social problems driving this demographic crisis \u2014 including the extremely high cost of raising children and deep-seated gender inequality.<\/span><\/p>\n EXPENSIVE KIDS<\/b><\/p>\n Raising children in South Korea is expensive, and the government\u2019s proposed subsidies are nowhere near enough to incentivize young South Koreans to have children.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to Jefferies Financial Group, a U.S. investment bank, South Korea is <\/span>the most expensive country to raise a child<\/span><\/a> anywhere in the world, reaching <\/span>7.79 times per-capita gross domestic product.<\/span><\/p>\n A significant portion of those costs results from South Koreans\u2019 practice of sending children to privately run cram schools known as hagwon. The government\u2019s attempts to regulate cram schools date to 1980, when the country\u2019s <\/span>last dictator<\/span><\/a> Chun Doo-hwan <\/span>banned private tutoring<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But such efforts failed and the industry continues to thrive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The housing market is an even bigger factor: South Korea\u2019s birth rate has been falling every month since late 2015, and those numbers roughly <\/span>coincide with the emergence of the country\u2019s real estate bubble<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The lack of affordable housing has had a <\/span>depressive effect<\/span><\/a> on people\u2019s desire to get married. And with strong cultural norms against <\/span>extramarital childbirth<\/span><\/a>, the decline in marriages has negatively impacted people\u2019s desire to have children.<\/span><\/p>\n While many expect housing <\/span>prices to fall<\/span><\/a>, home ownership remains unattainable for many due to <\/span>interest rate hikes<\/span><\/a> that the Bank of Korea has implemented to rein in inflation.<\/span><\/p>\n The previous Moon administration lost support because of its inability to stabilize the housing market. However, the Yoon administration\u2019s conservative governing philosophy that eschews economic regulation has left it unclear how it will deal with the real estate situation.<\/span><\/p>\n