By Kim Bo-eun
Lee Hyeon-seon, a 33-year-old office worker, had her first child early last year. She has plans to have a second child this year, but says financial constraints will keep her from having a third.
Like Lee, women here tend to choose to stop giving birth after having one or two children.
According to Statistics Korea, married women aged 30 to 44 gave birth to an average of 1.6 children last year. Data showed 52.1 percent had two children and 32.8 percent had one.
In the past, women of childbearing age had more children. Data showed those aged 45 to 59 had an average of two children during their child bearing years, while those now in their 60s and over gave birth to an average of 3.1 children.
Rising costs of raising children are putting constraints on young couples.
Lee says it is these costs which keep her working while leaving her 10-month-old baby at home with her mother.
“It is honestly tough, being a working mom. I am constantly tired and feel bad about not being there for my son,” she said. “But for me, working is not a choice.”
Lee said that although she does not need to hire a nanny since her mother takes care of her son, many of the young working moms around her do so.
They earn around 2.5 million won a month, but need to spend 1.5 to 1.7 million won on hiring a person to take care of their child. Despite the little that remains, many women choose this option, just to make a little more in raising their child.
“I heard that it takes some 100 million won to raise a child until he or she goes to university, this is of course, the minimum expenditure,” said Lee. “If one chooses to send them to an English kindergarten, private elementary school and a high school specializing in foreign languages or sciences, the costs will far exceed this amount.”
While she welcomed the government’s increase in childcare subsidies in the next administration, she said they would hardly be enough of an incentive for women to have more children.
“Although there are some women who consider their career more important than having children, or others who simply want to enjoy their lives without having children, I believe the majority of women who stop giving birth after one or two children do so due to the huge cost required to raise them,” Lee said.