{"id":2206557,"date":"2024-09-20T16:37:30","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T07:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2206557"},"modified":"2024-09-23T20:02:18","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T11:02:18","slug":"south-korea-boosts-housing-and-parental-leave-to-reverse-declining-birth-rate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/09\/south-korea-boosts-housing-and-parental-leave-to-reverse-declining-birth-rate\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea boosts housing and parental leave to reverse declining birth rate"},"content":{"rendered":"
South Korea proposed to reform the country\u2019s declining birth rate during a briefing with foreign correspondents, acknowledging both the scale of the demographic crisis and the challenges these reforms may face in reversing the trend.<\/span><\/p>\n The announcement by Sung Tae-yoon, the presidential chief of staff for national policy, followed President Yoon Suk-yeol\u2019s introduction of the <\/span>\u201c4+1 reform\u201d agenda<\/span><\/a> on Aug. 29. This plan targets four primary sectors \u2014 pension, education, healthcare and labor \u2014 with an additional focus on birth rate, which Sung emphasized is influenced by various factors across these areas.<\/span><\/p>\n South Korea\u2019s fertility rate has reached record lows, drawing global attention. In 2023, the total fertility rate fell to <\/span>0.72 children per woman<\/span><\/a>, down from 0.78 in 2022, making South Korea the only Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member state with a fertility rate below 1.0.<\/span><\/p>\n Sung outlined the government\u2019s strategy, which centers on three main pillars: housing support, work-life balance and regional development to ease competition in the real estate market and education in the Seoul Metropolitan area.<\/span><\/p>\n These efforts, comprising 151 specific initiatives, are designed to create an environment more conducive to raising families.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are taking unprecedented steps to address what we consider a national emergency,\u201d Sung, a former professor and economist, stated, emphasizing the need to support not only traditional marriages but also other family structures to combat declining birth rates.<\/span><\/p>\n The government\u2019s financial commitment to these reforms is reflected in its <\/span>2025 budget proposal<\/span><\/a>, which <\/span>allocates<\/span><\/a> about $14.8 billion (19.7 trillion won) for birth rate initiatives. This represents a 22% increase from the previous year, a significant rise despite the administration\u2019s general focus on fiscal restraint.<\/span><\/p>\n While the Yoon administration’s approach is more comprehensive than previous efforts, Sung acknowledged the reform measure\u2019s effectiveness without addressing the deep-rooted cultural factors that have led to South Korea’s ultra-low birth rate.<\/span><\/p>\n