According to the National Statistical Office's "Statistics of Newlyweds in 2018" that was released last Wednesday, four out of ten newly married couples have no children. The percentage of couples working together for a living is higher than the percentage of couples with only one of them working. Also, newlyweds who owned houses accounted for 64.8 percent of all newlyweds, and 56 percent of them do not have their own houses. In particular, the proportion of couples who have children decreased as their income increased.
What is the reason why the birth rate is consistently decreasing? The National Statistical Office explained that the percentage of newlyweds in the upper-income bracket who do not give birth to children is increasing compared to newlyweds in the lower income bracket, which is related to whether couples earn double income. It means that after the entry of women in public affairs, the fertility rate is decreased. Also, another reason is the improvement in the level of education. This is because people realized that the number of people is not a labor force as South Korea moves away from the agricultural-oriented society. Third, this is due to an increase in the number of non-regular workers. Being economically affluent and stable is not the same. We need a certain amount of money to raise children. Birth or marriage is closely related to the labor market. The higher the unemployment rate, the lower the birth rate. As South Korea has 7.5 million non-regular workers, the increase in the number of non-regular workers and worsening employment must have been affected.
Then, what is the solution to increasing the birth rate? Sung Tae-Yoon, an economics professor, said that there is a limit to raising the birth rate in the form of funding like child allowances. He added that the government's policy on promoting childbirth so far needs to be reexamined as having economic effects. The fertility policy will inevitably have a serious impact on the future economy as well. For now, there is a need to actively utilize the immigration policy, such as bringing in foreign workers, and it is important to form an inclusive public atmosphere that can accept foreign workers.
Dec. 14th, 2019
by Pyo Seung Hui
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