South Korea has so few babies it is offering new parents $10,500
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Loading... - Dong-hyuk Noi
- 19 Apr 2023
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South Korean parents are being showered with cash, but experts say money alone will not fix the country’s fertility woes.
In their apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, Kwon Jang-ho and Cho Nam-hee sat down recently at the kitchen table to work out the monthly budget for their 17-month-old son, Ju-ha. “Raising a baby in Korea can be affordable if you don’t buy unnecessary stuff and take advantage of government support,” Kwon, who works as a broadcaster with a local radio station, told Al Jazeera, while poring over the numbers.
“In our building, there’s even a local government-sponsored centre where you can borrow things like toys or strollers for free,” added Cho, who is on maternity leave and, like most South Korean women, does not share her husband’s family name. “Who doesn’t find it useful?” Kwon said. “It’s good that the government provides some support for families who already know they want kids but there are other factors to consider when it comes to tackling the low birth-rate problem.”
With the world’s lowest birth rate, South Korea faces a looming demographic and economic disaster. In 2022, the average number of babies expected per South Korean woman dropped to 0.78, down from the previous record low of 0.81 the previous year. The replacement rate in developed countries – the number of births needed to keep the population stable – is typically about 2.1. Read More…
