[The Editors' Verdict] Let's Establish a Separate Control Tower for Low Birth Rates

Kyung-ho Lee, Head of Biohealth Department

The total fertility rate in Yeonggwang-gun, Jeollanam-do (the expected number of children a woman of childbearing age will have in her lifetime) is 1.81, the highest in the nation. This is more than double the national average of 0.78. Kang Jong-man, the mayor of Yeonggwang-gun, identified the cause of low birth rates as related to ‘youth.’ He focused administrative efforts on strengthening customized services across the life cycle, including youth employment, housing, marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, childcare, and education.

They attracted companies to create jobs and established a Youth Development Fund. Youth received allowances, and companies were given incentives. Support was provided for home repair costs as well as rent. About 50 childbirth support policies were implemented, including marriage encouragement grants (5 million KRW), transportation cards for pregnant women (300,000 KRW), and childbirth congratulatory product purchase expenses (300,000 KRW). For newborn care expenses, unprecedented support was given: 5 million KRW for the first child, 12 million KRW for the second, 30 million KRW for the third to fifth, and 35 million KRW for the sixth and beyond.

Since last year, they have also introduced a paternity leave encouragement grant (3 million KRW) and a university entrance congratulatory grant (500,000 KRW) for new university students. Mayor Kang said, "Instead of recognizing low birth rates as the cause of social problems, we accepted it as a result of social problems and reorganized the policy response direction from ‘support’ to ‘establishing legal and institutional measures.’" The number of births in Yeonggwang-gun last year was 558, increasing by an average of 10.0% annually. However, the population was recorded at 53,099 the same year, decreasing by an average of 1.1% annually. This is because the number of deaths exceeds the number of births due to population aging.

It is difficult to solve low birth rates and aging simultaneously. Since the causes differ, the solutions must also differ. This is why the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy needs to be reorganized. The committee chairperson is the president, the vice-chairperson is a minister-level official, and the private sector members serve as well. This is the position formerly held by former lawmaker Na Kyung-won, who was involved in a ‘dismissal’ controversy. Since January, Vice-Chairperson Kim Young-mi, a social welfare expert who served as a standing member, has been in charge.

The committee describes itself as "a direct organization chaired by the president, serving as a control tower (central organization) overseeing government policies related to low birth rates and aging." However, to oversee effectively, three things are necessary: budget, organization, and personnel. The committee lacks budget authority and execution power; it only deliberates. Real authority lies with the Blue House and the ruling party, the Ministry of Economy and Finance which controls budget and taxation, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. However, no one has ever been held accountable for low birth rates. The committee’s organization consists mainly of the main committee (government and private members), the steering committee (government), and the secretariat. Among the secretariat’s four divisions, the ‘Work-Life Care Division’ handles population structure mitigation policies (low birth rate measures), and the ‘Generational Empathy Division’ handles adaptation policies for population structure changes (aging society policies). The secretariat is staffed by public officials dispatched from various ministries and private sector workers. Although the work is not confidential, there is no public directory to see who does what.

Low birth rates are a national task that transcends political camps and parties and cannot be solved in a year or two. Governance must also change accordingly. The Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy should separate low birth rate and aging issues and be given real authority. If a minister-level position is too weak, it should be elevated to a deputy prime minister level. There is no need for the president to chair the committee. It is enough to grant clear authority. The person in charge should be able to move both ruling and opposition parties and the government and be someone who actually wants to work. It is also worth considering including it within the government organization rather than under the president. The government’s low birth rate measures will be announced soon. Hopefully, as President Yoon Seok-yeol has instructed, they will be "bold and definite low birth rate measures that the public can feel." The plan should also include ways to separate low birth rate and aging issues.