South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced Thursday that he would create a new government ministry to address the country's low birth rate, which he called “a national emergency.”
The ministry will serve as a specialized “control tower” that “will set policies covering education, work and welfare” – a policy best suited to address a problem that has so far been largely addressed with incremental measures.
“It will be more than just a social welfare policy, but a national agenda,” Yoon said at a news conference marking the end of his second year in office.
Last year's fertility rate (the number of children a woman is expected to have on average in her lifetime) was among the lowest in the world, at 0.72, well below the 2.1 needed for maintain a stable population. That figure is expected to drop to 0.68 by the end of the year, according to the government.
In a country of 50 million people, around 230,000 babies were born last year and, if nothing changes, the population will decline dramatically in the coming decades. The population and politicians increasingly perceive the situation as a serious existential threat.
The Times has been covering the crisis:
The South Korean government has spent more than $200 billion over the past 16 years to counter these trends, but without much success.
With fewer workers to contribute, the country's $764 billion pension fund is estimated to be depleted by 2054.
To counter labor shortages already being felt in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing, the government has been admitting migrant workers from developing countries such as Nepal and Indonesia in record numbers. With a shrinking pool of young people to draw on, the military is trying to reduce its reliance on human soldiers.
Some of the government's proposals to stimulate birth rates have attracted attention.
Last year, Yoon's People Power Party reportedly discussed plans to exempt from mandatory military service South Korean men who fathered three children before the age of 30, an idea seen as out of touch with the high costs of raising a child. child.
And even though the poor work-life balance of young South Koreans is frequently cited as one of the many causes keeping them away from parenthood, the Yoon administration once sparked outrage for proposing a 69-hour work week .
