65% of singles think Korean children are unhappy

There is an unhappy outlook for Korea's birthrate. Yonhap

By Jung Min-ho

More than 65 percent of single men and women think Korean children are unhappy, a survey showed Thursday.

According to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs' research, 65.5 percent of single men and women think children born in Korea are “very unhappy” or “somewhat unhappy.”

Their perceptions bode ill for Korea's fertility rate, which is already among the lowest in the world.

According to the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy, the fertility rate ― the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime ― is expected to fall below 1.0 this year, down from 1.05 last year.

The committee said the number of babies ― born or to be born in 2018 ― is projected to be around 320,000, a drop from 357,700 in 2017. It noted that the number will hit 300,000 by 2022 if the current trend continues.