Bolder steps must be taken urgently to avoid demographic crisis
Korea's total fertility rate fell to a record low last year, Statistics Korea reported last week. The average number of children a Korean woman bears in her lifetime stood at a mere 0.81, further down from 0.84 the previous year. The number of newborns also remained at 260,600, less than half of 560,000 two decades ago. Korea is the only nation with a birthrate below 1.0 among the 38 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, with its fertility rate barely more than half of the OECD's average of 1.59.
It's a small surprise that Korea is receiving numerous warnings about its population from experts abroad. The country even reported the first fall in its population in 2020, eight years earlier than predicted. Moreover, Korea is experiencing the side effects a falling birthrate, such as a steep decline in the working-age population who are major economic players and taxpayers, an early depletion of national pension funds due to rapid population aging, a dwindling workforce, and rises in various costs, all of which combine to pull down growth potential.
Successive governments have poured 400 trillion won ($296 billion) over the past 15 years into pushing up the birthrate but to little avail. Politicians have vowed to make an epochal turnaround in every election, but stopped short of putting their words into action, without exception. The Yoon Suk-yeol administration's promise to grant 1 million won in parental allowances stands little chance of success.
Experts have long stressed the need for long-term measures throughout people's life cycles instead of occasional cash support for birth and child raising. The country should be able to instill optimism about the future in youngsters by, for instance, providing them with decent jobs and livable homes at relatively low costs. To do so, policymakers must start devising countermeasures from the ground up. Considering that the country will be unable to fundamentally reverse the shrinking and aging population, Korea needs to consider expanding its immigration policy. In this case, it will be essential to first build national consensus on the issue of immigration.
Korea's total fertility rate fell to a record low last year, Statistics Korea reported last week. The average number of children a Korean woman bears in her lifetime stood at a mere 0.81, further down from 0.84 the previous year. The number of newborns also remained at 260,600, less than half of 560,000 two decades ago. Korea is the only nation with a birthrate below 1.0 among the 38 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, with its fertility rate barely more than half of the OECD's average of 1.59.
It's a small surprise that Korea is receiving numerous warnings about its population from experts abroad. The country even reported the first fall in its population in 2020, eight years earlier than predicted. Moreover, Korea is experiencing the side effects a falling birthrate, such as a steep decline in the working-age population who are major economic players and taxpayers, an early depletion of national pension funds due to rapid population aging, a dwindling workforce, and rises in various costs, all of which combine to pull down growth potential.
Successive governments have poured 400 trillion won ($296 billion) over the past 15 years into pushing up the birthrate but to little avail. Politicians have vowed to make an epochal turnaround in every election, but stopped short of putting their words into action, without exception. The Yoon Suk-yeol administration's promise to grant 1 million won in parental allowances stands little chance of success.
Experts have long stressed the need for long-term measures throughout people's life cycles instead of occasional cash support for birth and child raising. The country should be able to instill optimism about the future in youngsters by, for instance, providing them with decent jobs and livable homes at relatively low costs. To do so, policymakers must start devising countermeasures from the ground up. Considering that the country will be unable to fundamentally reverse the shrinking and aging population, Korea needs to consider expanding its immigration policy. In this case, it will be essential to first build national consensus on the issue of immigration.
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