Gwangju Seo-gu Council Urges 'Support for Infertile Couples, Shift to Practical Policies'

The Seo-gu Council of Gwangju Metropolitan City has called for the government to establish realistic support measures for infertile couples as a countermeasure to overcome low birth rates.

On the 19th, during the 2nd plenary session of the 314th extraordinary meeting, Councilor Baek Jong-han stated in a 5-minute free speech, “Along with the decentralization of support projects for infertile couples, various restrictions on support projects have caused disparities in support,” adding, “Infertility policies should be led by the state to ensure equitable support and to overcome the serious low birth rate problem.”

The speech expressed concerns about the decline in national competitiveness due to phenomena such as a decrease in the school-age population caused by low birth rates, a reduction in the workforce, an increase in the elderly care population, and the collapse of family-centered care due to the rise of single-person households.

In response, Councilor Baek argued that expanding support policies for infertile couples is one effective alternative to overcome low birth rates.

Councilor Baek said, “In this session, I proposed the ‘Seo-gu Infertility Overcoming Support Ordinance’ to compensate for the lack of national support,” adding, “The reality of autonomous districts is so poor that unpaid support funds occur. Although it will be difficult, I will do my best in legislative activities to secure budgets and establish policies to help infertile couples.”

Councilor Baek pointed out problems with infertility policies such as ▲support restrictions based on income criteria ▲limits on the number of procedures ▲differential support based on age ▲disparities by region caused by the transfer to local offices, and demanded a policy shift at the national level.

Shin Dong-ho, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy bless4ya@asiae.co.kr