Gov't desperate to raise historic low birthrate

The government seeks to provide benefits for households with more than two children to spur the country's low birthrate. Graphics by Cho Sang-won

By Kim Hyun-bin

The government is seeking to provide benefits to encourage families to have more children.

Currently there are benefits for families who have three or more children, but the government is seeking to provide equal benefits for households with more than two children as a desperate countermeasure to raise the country's low birthrate.

In October, the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy is scheduled to release its third low-birthrate restructuring plan.

Under the new plan, it is expected to include households with two children into the benefits package.

The benefits include being first in line for apartment applications, better loan opportunities, reduction in the vehicle acquisition tax, state university scholarships, reductions in electricity and gas bills, and discounts for public transportation.

However, there are only 510,000 households in the country accounting for less than 10 percent of families having three or more children. Many experts call for a more practical policy to deal with the crisis of the country's low birthrate.

According to Statistics Korea, there are over 5.4 million households that have a child under 18 years old, but among them less than 2 million households are raising infants.

Currently, middle-class and dual-income households are excluded from receiving government support as benefit packages are focused on supporting and enhancing low-income families. However, the government is looking into supporting all families with two or more babies.

“We need to restructure policy to provide government aid to any family with two or more children. We will find a way to include them,” said Kim Sang-hee, vice chairwoman of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy.

According to “2017 Birth Statistics” released by Statistics Korea on Aug. 22, the number of newborns reached 357,800 last year, a drop of 11.9 percent from the previous year. This is the lowest figure in the 48 years the government has been collecting data on newborns.

The fertility rate, which estimates the number of childbirths for a couple through their lifetime, dropped to 1.05.

To maintain the current population the fertility rate needs to stand at 2.1.

However, the fertility rate dropped even further to 0.97 in the second quarter of this year, dipping below the one child mark for the first time, according to Statistics Korea. The number is expected to drop even further in the second half of the year. The OECD average among the 35 member states stands at 1.68.

Ninety percent of Koreans are worried about the low birthrate, a recent survey showed.

The survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare showed 87.4 percent of 2,000 adults believe the low birthrate is a serious issue.

A total 31.2 percent cited financial burdens for marriage as the key reason for the low birthrate followed by youth unemployment and job security at 19.5 percent and difficulty in maintaining work-life balance at 18.1 percent.

Many women claimed their career can be affected by taking maternity leave, and it is difficult to return or find a job after spending an extended time away from work.

The survey revealed 76.6 percent of women said they feel uncomfortable with their superiors and colleagues when they take maternity leave.