[Population Cliff] ③ "The Solution to Low Birthrate is Improving 'Quality of Life'... Resolving Imbalances in Education, Labor, and Housing"

Interview with Lee So-young, Director of Population Policy Planning Division at Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs

Soyoung Lee, Director of Population Policy Planning Division, Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] "Imbalances are severe across various sectors of society, including education, labor, and housing. If there is hope and trust in the society where future children grow up, the birth rate will naturally increase."

Lee Soyoung, Head of the Population Policy Planning Division at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, stated in an interview with Asia Economy that "the fundamental cause of low birth rates lies in structural social factors." She diagnosed, "In particular, the imbalance in the labor market is the biggest problem. The competition to enter the labor market polarizes education, which in turn causes imbalances in labor and housing, creating a vicious cycle that makes it difficult to have children."

She analyzed that a culture avoiding childbirth has become entrenched due to structural social factors, and that piecemeal government measures alone cannot raise the birth rate. Among domestic demographers, there is also a perspective that views the low birth rate issue as a result of survival instincts being maximized in a situation of limited resources, which aligns with her view to some extent.

Lee pointed out that to create a society where people want to have children, it is necessary to resolve imbalances across key areas such as regions, housing, education, and labor. Ultimately, this is a matter closely related to the "quality of life." She said, "The birth rate falls because the quality of life is low," and added, "We need to change the system to reduce polarization in key sectors based on social consensus and to raise the level of welfare."

She explained that the government's repeated failures in low birth rate policies were because they merely listed a variety of policies without solving or even worsening the structural social problems themselves. From this perspective, she evaluated the 4th Basic Plan for Low Birth Rate and Aging Society (2021?2025), which focuses on "improving individuals' quality of life," as a desirable direction.

Regarding the decline in the working-age population caused by the world's most severe low birth rate and aging, she viewed immigration policy as a partial solution. Lee said, "We can consider accepting immigrants centered on the necessary workforce," but emphasized, "However, if there is no structural social development, immigrants will eventually have children at the same low rate as Koreans. The conclusion returns to the starting point: without resolving social imbalances across labor, education, housing, and improving welfare levels, the low birth rate problem cannot be fundamentally solved."

She also pointed out the need for a paradigm shift regarding productivity. She said, "It is not the population size or age itself that matters, but productivity must be increased," adding, "Productivity can be enhanced through advances in science and technology, utilization of the elderly population, and continuous investment in children born now." Regarding the government's low birth rate policies, she noted, "Rather than searching for all overseas cases and piling up policies, we need to distinguish between adaptation and response, short-term and mid-to-long-term issues, and focus policy capabilities on the problems that need to be addressed."

Lee emphasized, "The post-war generation was a generation that had hope that our sons and daughters could live well if they tried," and added, "The solution to the low birth rate problem lies in raising social stability and trust through national consensus and continuous efforts to resolve structural social imbalances."