"1 Baby, 100 Million Won" Incentive for Childbirth Effective?… 6 out of 10 Say "Yes"

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Survey from 17-26 Last Month
64% Say Annual 23 Trillion Won Fiscal Investment Is "Necessary"

The government conducted a survey on the plan to give 100 million won in cash per newborn, and 6 out of 10 respondents said it would serve as a motivation for childbirth.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced the results of the survey conducted from the 17th to the 26th of last month through the online policy communication platform 'Gukmin Saenggakham' on the 1st.

When asked, "If the government directly provides a substantial cash support to mothers who gave birth or newborns, similar to the recent case of private companies providing 100 million won in childbirth support, would it serve as a motivation to actively have children?" 62.6% responded that it would be motivating, while 37.4% said it would not.

The survey question used the example of "substantial cash" amounts of 100 million won for the first child, 200 million won for the second child, and 300 million won for the third child or more.

When asked, "If the government directly pays 100 million won in cash to mothers or newborns, the state is expected to bear about 23 trillion won annually based on the provisional number of 230,000 births in 2023. Do you think it is acceptable for the government to invest finances in this?" 63.6% answered "Yes, it is necessary to solve the low birthrate problem," while 36.4% answered "No, it is not a problem the government should bear."

Regarding the plan to secure the budget by utilizing funds used for other similar purposes such as responding to regional extinction, 51.0% of respondents said, "Yes, the budget for similar purpose projects should be prioritized for (low birthrate) cash support." A nearly equal 49.0% responded, "No, the budget for other projects should be executed as originally intended."

A total of 13,640 people participated in this survey. Among them, 57.2% were women and 42.8% were men; 58.8% were married and 41.2% were unmarried. By age group, those in their 30s accounted for the largest portion at 60.5%, followed by those in their 40s (14.4%), 20s (13.7%), 50s (5.4%), 60s and older (5.7%), and under 10 years old (0.2%).

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission explained regarding the survey, "Since there have been criticisms that the policies implemented so far to overcome the low birthrate have had low effectiveness, we intend to assess the effectiveness of direct support measures for policy beneficiaries through this survey."