By Kim Jae-heun
Korea’s struggle with its low birthrate isn’t new, however, new statistics on births in 2017 announced Wednesday came as a shock.
According to Statistics Korea, only 357,700 babies were born last year, falling below the 400,000 mark for the first time. That put the average birthrate at 1.05 per woman, the lowest since data began being collected.
Statistics officials project that if this trend continues, Korea will see its population peak in 2028, four years earlier than previously forecast
The report is a blow to the government which has spent 8 trillion won over the past 10 years trying to boost the birthrate.
Experts say that its policy priority was wrong and urged that administration to focus on improving the quality of life in general so that young people can actually consider marriage and having children.
“During the last decade, plans to tackle the low birthrate only focused on childcare when, in fact, the fundamental cause lies with young people not getting married,” said Prof. Cho Young-tea of the Graduate School of Public Health at Seoul National University.
The government began seriously looking at the low birthrate from mid-2000. From 2006, it began drafting a five-year comprehensive plan to give incentives to married couples and couples with children in housing and childcare.
Prof. Yoon Hong-sik from Inha University in Incheon said a key policy should be solving everyday problems for the population in general.
“The reason for the low birthrate in Korea is the quality of life,” Yoon said to government officials, business representatives and politicians who gathered at an urgently convened meeting to discuss the report Wednesday.
“The problem is not that people are getting married late or are not married. If you look at Sweden, the age when women first have a baby is 31. Not so much different from Korean women who have their first baby when they are 31.5. What the Swedish government did was solve everyday issues facing ordinary citizens. And I believe that produced the higher birthrate,” Yoon continued.
Sweden’s average birthrate was 1.95 per woman in 2013.
He also suggested the government create more jobs in the public sector to provide services to citizens, and increase taxes to create more financial resources.
Analysts note that the Moon Jae-in administration’s policy which is more geared toward creating more jobs for young people and making housing more affordable is a step in the right direction.