By Choi Sung-jin
On Dec. 10, the government announced a policy package entitled, “The Third Basic Plan on Low Birthrate and Population Aging,” calling it a national strategy to overcome the demographic crisis.
Views of private experts couldn’t be harsher, however. In a talkfest Friday held at People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, civic activists said the package is “just tinkering alienated from reality, which cannot prepare the nation for the looming demographic disaster.”
Professor Choi Hye-ji of Seoul Women’s University, who examined the policy concerning senior citizens, said it has not changed from 10 years ago. “The government’s latest plan acknowledges its failures over the past decade, but it contains no self-reflection, while leaving many loopholes unfilled,” she said.
As an example, Prof. Choi pointed to the part in which the government attempts to deal with the high suicide rate of the elderly from the aspect of mental health. “Direct causes of surging suicides among the elderly are economic hardships and physical difficulties, but the government is regarding this tragedy as just mental depression,” she said, noting that the diagnosis of the problem is wrong itself.
Also problematic is the policy of solving the shortage of workers by letting more immigrants enter the country, of which Prof. Choi said, “The government is not recognizing the basic rights of foreign workers but is just trying to exploit their labor.” The government is focusing only on high-achieving foreign students, skilled workers and professionals while ignoring unskilled workers and simple laborers and failing to protect their rights, she said.
“If the government only attempts to attract high-quality manpower while tacitly endorsing the exploitation of immigrant workers, aside from being callous, such a policy will ultimately lead to trouble,” Choi said.
Professor Joo Eun-seon of Kyonggi University said the government’s policy on income security for the elderly “runs counter to the principles of the public interest and fair redistribution.”
Noting that Korea’s poverty rate among the elderly is the highest among OECD nations, Prof. Joo pointed out that public pensions are going backward while private pensions are being strengthened. “By allowing financial institutions to become the main players in income security for the elderly, the government is enhancing market influences on pension policy and weakening the stability of retirement income,” she said.
Chung Jun-young, who represents the Youth Community Union, criticized the government’s plan to create 370,000 jobs for young people through labor reforms over the next five years.
“To hit the numerical target, the government is set to expand internships, implement the peak wage system and further soften the labor market,” Chung said. “By allowing employers to fire low-achieving workers, jobs will become more insecure and unemployment allowances will be harder to receive.”
Professor Yoon Hong-shik of Inha University said that the government is also agreeing on the need to increase taxes as a means of securing additional financial resources through social consensus. “Only when the public sector is bolstered so it can provide more stable jobs, will the government be able to solve low the birthrate problem,” he said.