[How Is Your Dream] Unprecedented Low Birth Rate... 'Mom' Wants More Without 'Imonim'

78.4% of Parents Cannot Take Parental Leave
Most Users Are Public Officials and Large Corporations
Public Childcare Centers and Care Services Are Extremely Scarce
Population Concentrated in the Capital Area... Survival Is the Top Priority
Job and Housing Instability Are Also Urgent Issues

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] Kim Ji-eun (38), who works at a small and medium-sized enterprise, recently gave up her plan to have a second child within three years. This was due to painful memories of struggling to find a babysitter, an "imo-nim" (auntie), to take care of her first child before returning to work after one year of parental leave. The waiting list for the nearby public daycare center never came around, and when she inquired about the government’s "childcare service," she was told there was a long waiting list and she would have to wait at least two to three more months. Neither her parents nor her in-laws were in a position to take care of the child, so she eventually managed to find someone through a private agency. Kim said, "I want to have a second child, but the costs are overwhelming, and I can’t bear to go through the difficulties of raising the first child all over again."

Yang Joo-hee (36), who works at a large corporation, ended up using only half of her parental leave at the time of childbirth and plans to use the remaining half next month when her child enters elementary school. She reserved half of the two years of available parental leave to use around the time her child starts elementary school. However, deciding to take the second parental leave was not easy. Yang sighed, "My boss at work repeatedly asked, ‘Is it really necessary to take leave when we’re already short-staffed?’ Although I’m fortunate to be able to take parental leave, it’s unpaid and doesn’t count toward my company career, so the decision was not easy."

Unprecedented Low Birthrate... Among the Lowest in the World

The resident registration population statistics released by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety earlier this month clearly show the reality of South Korea facing a population disaster. For the first time in modern Korean history, the number of deaths exceeded the number of births, causing a natural population decline known as the "dead cross." Last year, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of births dropped by 10.7% from the previous year to 275,815. The total fertility rate, which is the expected number of children a woman of childbearing age will have in her lifetime, was 0.84 in the second and third quarters of last year, ranking among the lowest in the world. According to a Bank of Korea report, the total fertility rate in 2022 is expected to fall even further than Statistics Korea’s forecast of 0.72.

Experts point out that the next 10 years represent a "golden time" for South Korea to respond to population changes. Professor Cho Young-tae, a demographer at Seoul National University, said, "The shock will become more apparent after 2030, when the working-age population (ages 15 to 64) sharply declines. There is a high possibility that the dead cross will go unnoticed for the next 10 years, making this period even more critical." After the total population peaked at 51.85 million last year, it is expected to decrease by about 500,000 over the next decade. An average annual population decline of 50,000 is so subtle that it may lead to a "time of oblivion" where no action is taken.

Parental Leave Also Shows ‘Rich Get Richer, Poor Get Poorer’... 3 Years for Civil Servants and Large Corporations

One reason for the declining birthrate is the "environment where raising children is difficult." There is a parental leave system that allows male and female workers with children under 8 years old or in the second grade of elementary school or younger to request leave from their employers for childcare purposes, but even here, inequality persists.

According to the "2019 Parental Leave Statistics" released by Statistics Korea last month, 78.4% of parents eligible for parental leave after having a child last year did not take leave. Especially, the usage rate of parental leave among men was only 1.85%. The gap widens when broken down by workplace size. In large corporations with more than 300 employees, the parental leave rates last year were 76.1% for women and 2.9% for men, but in companies with four or fewer employees, the rates were only 25.1% for women and 0.6% for men.

Lee So-yoon, who lives in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, said, "Civil servants and some large corporations have parental leave lasting up to three years, which is enviable. The current one-year parental leave period is too short for families with a first child to have and raise a second child." Professor Yoon Hong-sik of Inha University’s Department of Social Welfare said, "The current employment insurance system cannot resolve the inequality in parental leave. If it is transferred to the national health insurance system covering all citizens, it can include self-employed and non-regular workers. If that is difficult, the government should devise separate support measures."

Jobs, Childcare, and Education Issues... Need to Alleviate Concentration in the Capital Area

Experts agree that since the ultra-low birthrate phenomenon arises from complex social factors such as employment, education, and housing, long-term plans focusing on improving "quality of life" are necessary rather than short-term policies.

Professor Cho said, "We need to immediately establish new plans across all policies that fit the ‘new normal’ of population. Especially, policies that can break the uniform values and fixed ideas that only Seoul, where jobs are concentrated, can do something are needed." As the population concentrates in the capital area, competition intensifies, and individual "survival" becomes paramount, pushing marriage and childbirth to lower priorities. He added, "The ultimate low birthrate policy is to redistribute resources concentrated in the capital area and create jobs in new regions."

There are also calls to prioritize improving childcare and education environments where parents can raise children with peace of mind. Professor Jung Jae-hoon of Seoul Women’s University’s Department of Sociology emphasized, "In South Korea, middle-class women, who are most likely to have children, give up childbirth at the crossroads of career and childbirth. There is an urgent need to improve the reality where a childcare gap occurs after elementary school, the start of public education, forcing reliance on private education."

Job and housing instability, key factors in the low birthrate, must also be addressed as a prerequisite. Professor Cho pointed out, "The skyrocketing housing prices have raised barriers to marriage, and the COVID-19 shock has further negatively impacted the birthrate." Professor Yoon also advised, "If quality jobs are created in the labor market and housing problems are solved, childbirth can naturally become a ‘choice.’ However, with current wage levels, it is impossible to secure quality housing environments. We need to significantly increase public sector jobs in welfare and education and expand public housing to improve the overall ‘quality of life’ in our society."