[Population Great Earthquake] "Worry and pain come to mind with pregnancy-related words"... SNS-fueled 'Low Birthrate'

<In-depth Study on the Causes and Countermeasures of Low Birthrate>③
2 Million 'Birth' Keyword Mentions Filled with 'Worries'
Pregnancy-Related Words Prioritize Abortion over Marriage
Birth Avoidance Due to SNS Culture of Showing Off and Comparing

Social networking services (SNS) have been criticized for reducing the desire to have children. It is argued that SNS fosters vague fears about childbirth and unnecessarily increases the burden of parenting. Voices have also emerged saying that to overcome the current low birthrate phenomenon, the image of 'moderately okay parents' should be spread.

A post related to proposals uploaded on the social networking service (SNS) Instagram. On the 9th, Asia Economy reviewed the report titled "In-depth Study on the Causes and Countermeasures of Low Birthrate," which analyzed that the unique comparative culture of East Asia combined with the show-off culture of SNS has caused young people to start feeling burdened by marriage and childbirth. The photo is unrelated to the article content.

On the 9th, Asia Economy obtained a report titled ‘In-depth Causes and Countermeasures for Low Birthrate,’ which included an analysis of 2 million instances of the keyword ‘childbirth’ appearing over one year in online communities, SNS, and news. According to the study, most words associated with childbirth were negative terms such as ‘worry,’ ‘concern,’ ‘pain,’ and ‘stress.’ This indicates that childbirth is not perceived positively in Korea.

Especially, negative emotions were stronger among women. When examining pregnancy-related words for women, abortion ranked higher than marriage. The report explained, “This fact suggests many issues,” and “Fear and burden regarding pregnancy and childbirth are predominant among women.”

Experts pointed to SNS as the main culprit for the declining image of childbirth. They argued that in Korea, where East Asian collectivism, cooperation, competition, and envy culture are prevalent, the display and comparison culture of SNS has led to avoidance of childbirth. The spread of excessive parenting culture and the perception of childbirth as a cost were also cited as causes.

At the ‘Expert Forum for Establishing Population Policy Vision’ held last year, a panelist said, “Social media stimulates young people’s tendency to compare,” adding, “More young people have felt deprived after seeing expensive proposal gifts posted by acquaintances on Instagram and decided not to get married.” He further noted, “Considering research results that the 20s age group has the strongest comparison tendency in Korea, it is highly likely that this influenced the sharp decline in birthrate.”

There was also an analysis that the timing of Korea’s birthrate decline coincides with the development of internet communities. Looking at the total fertility rate trend, Korea had already entered a gradual low birthrate structure since 2002, but the birthrate sharply declined starting in 2016. Experts focused on the emergence of the term ‘Hell Joseon’ in 2010 and its frequent use from 2015 onward. The explanation is that future outlooks shape attitudes toward marriage and childbirth, and as young people’s anxiety grew online, low birthrate spread like a trend.

In response, there have been calls to change the negative image of low birthrate into a positive one. The report stated, “It is necessary to create an atmosphere where new memes (information preserved and transmitted across generations through words and text) about family life and values are formed,” and “We should seek ways to spread the concept of appropriate parenting and moderately okay parents that can replace burdensome high-intensity parenting and perfect supportive parents.”