By Kim Se-jeong
The birthrate in Seoul last year was the lowest of Korea’s 17 municipalities, according to Statistics Korea Thursday.
Women living in Seoul had an average 0.968 children in 2013, lower than the 1.187 national average.
Busan was second lowest with 1.049 babies, followed by Daegu with 1.127, Gwangju with 1,170 and Incheon with 1.195.
South Jeolla Province had the highest rate of 1.518, followed by South Chungcheong Province with 1.442, Sejong City with 1.435, Jeju Island with 1.427 and Ulsan with 1.391.
The figure is no surprise, given that Seoul has the biggest population of working young women. However, Seoul Metropolitan Government executive Jeon Soo-ho said the real issue was financial instability among young people, which resulted in fewer marriages.
“Fewer people choose to marry because they are not financially stable,” Jeon said. “And because child care and education are a big burden, couples delay having a child or choose not to have one at all.
The birthrate was particularly low in Seoul’s Jongno, which had an 0.729 birthrate. Gwangak was second lowest with 0.825, followed by Gangngam with 0.842. Guro had the highest birthrate at 1.162.
Jeon said comprehensive measures should be taken to solve the problem. Measures should embrace education, housing, childcare, marriage, employment and a change in the perception of marriage.
Jeon pointed out that in France almost 40 percent of babies were born out of marriage. In Korea, only 2.14 percent of babies were born outside marriage last year, a 2.10 percentage point increase from the previous year.
In Korea, pregnancy outside marriage is still considered a disgrace to the mother and her extended family, so many women choose to abort or abandon babies.
According to the statistics, mothers were on average 32.47 years old when they had their first baby, six months older than the previous year. The average age first surpassed 30 in 2002.