"Obstacles to Childbirth and Parenting Are Social Structural Issues"
Identified Causes Include Employment Difficulties and Job Shortages
South Korea's total fertility rate in the second quarter of this year hit a record low of 0.70. The American monthly magazine The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) analyzed that the reason young people are reluctant to have children despite the government distributing cash subsidies lies in structural social problems.
On the 31st of last month (local time), WSJ pointed out that although the South Korean government has poured about 280 trillion won since 2006 to solve the low birthrate problem, it has failed to persuade the younger generation, stating, "Even with cash payments to parents, the world's lowest fertility rate is declining further."
WSJ noted that the South Korean government has been providing subsidies to households with newborns and supporting low-interest loans for years, and President Yoon Suk-yeol intends to increase the scale of such cash support, but diagnosed that these methods alone are insufficient to solve the problem.
It mentioned that the real obstacles to childbirth and childcare are structural social issues such as employment difficulties, career interruptions, and high education costs. It also considered the lack of stable jobs compared to the past and the skyrocketing housing prices as influential factors.
Domestic experts also say that cash support cannot have a significant effect without resolving structural social problems.
Lee Sang-rim, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, said, "The younger generation fears the relentless ongoing competition," adding, "(From their perspective) not having children essentially lowers the risk of passing on unhappiness."
Choi Seul-gi, a professor at the Graduate School of International Policy at the Korea Development Institute, explained, "Every election season, politicians announce huge measures to solve the fertility rate problem," and "However, cash as an incentive to change people's perspectives on life has limited effectiveness."
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