Despite an astronomical budget for efforts to tackle the ultralow birthrate, South Korea is facing an even worse demographic picture, and the government vowed Wednesday to narrow its policy focus to support the people’s balancing of work and life, child rearing and stable housing under an emergency response system.
The government has spent 380 trillion won (US$275.58 billion) over the past 18 years or so only to witness the total fertility rate, which means the average number of expected births from a woman in her lifetime, sinking to an all-time low of 0.72 last year.
It was far below the 2.1 births per woman needed to keep the country’s population at 51 million stable without immigration. South Korea is the only country among the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) where the total fertility rate was below 1 as of 2021.
The figure is expected to fall further to 0.68 in 2024, according to Statistics Korea.
Various surveys have shown that young people are relu
ctant to start families and have babies out of concerns of increasingly heavy burdens regarding housing prices and education costs, among other factors.
More women also want to continue their careers, which seem to be far from easy, given the country’s long working hours and not-very-flexible employment system.
Under the circumstances, the government decided to put its policy priority on three categories to help the people: striking a balance between their work and life, easing the burdens of child rearing and ensuring stable housing circumstances.
“A total of 47 trillion won of the budget was set aside last year for 142 programs that aimed to boost the fertility rate. But only half of them were used for key projects that are directly linked to the goal. It is urgent to reassess them to better deal with the challenges,” Han Sung-min, an official of the state-run Korea Development Institute, said.
According to a set of measures the government announced Wednesday, monthly parental leave benefits will be rai
sed to up to 2.5 million won for the first three months from the current 1.5 million won.
The amount will be reduced to 2 million won for the following three months and 1.6 million won for the next six months.
The government will provide subsidies for employers who hire temporary replacements for employees on parental leave, and a 200,000 won monthly subsidy will be given to colleagues who fill the vacancies of working moms and dads who have left their workplaces.
By doing so, the government aims to raise the usage rate of paternity leave from the current 6.8 percent to 50 percent during Yoon’s term.
The government will also introduce a shorter-term parental leave scheme that allows working parents to take a two-week leave. Working moms and dads will also be able to have more flexible time off for child care.
Paternity leave for fathers will be doubled to 20 days.
A special program that allows employees to reduce working hours will now be available for those with a child aged 12 or younger, compared wit
h the current age limit of 8, and they will be able to apply for the scheme for up to 36 months, rather than the current 24 months.
Starting next year, children aged 5-7 will enjoy free education at kindergartens, with the subject to be extended further.
The government will expand after-school care and various education programs for elementary school students to ease the educational burden on parents.
To meet demand for child care at home, the government vowed to secure 1,200 foreign domestic helpers by the first half of next year and begin a pilot project allowing foreign students and wives of foreign laborers to get jobs as housekeepers.
Households with newborns will be given priority in housing allocations and low-interest loans for home purchases.
The government will set aside 120,000 homes for households with newborn babies and increase the proportion of homes that construction firms are required to allocate to newlywed couples when selling new apartments to 23 percent from the current 18 percent of
each complex.
Various special tax incentives for married couples and those with babies will be expanded.
Couples who want to have babies will be eligible to receive greater support for infertility treatments.
The government will create a new ministry to oversee low birth rate issues, as well as a new office on the birth rate issue under the senior presidential secretary position.
A special account on responses to the demographic crisis will be made to ensure a stable budget for projects and programs designed to boost the fertility rate.
“Today, I officially declare a demographic national emergency. We will activate a pan-government comprehensive response system until the low birth rate issue is overcome,” Yoon said, asking for the National Assembly’s cooperation to establish the envisioned ministry as soon as possible.
However, it remains to be seen how the government will be able to secure additional budgets for a special appropriation and new projects, and which policy measures would help reverse, or
even slow down, the downtrend.
“The new measures do not include ways of encouraging young people to opt to get married. The government also appears to be short-sighted as it set a goal of boosting the fertility rate within Yoon’s term,” a researcher at a demographic research center of Seoul National University said.
Jeong Eun-soo, a father of two in Seoul, said what is needed the most is more fundamental changes in the country’s labor system and a social environment that allows flexible work arrangements.
“My wife worked at a small-sized, short-staffed company and she was not able to freely take maternity leave for our second child,” Jeong said. “She eventually quit the job last year, and she has often said that she will never recommend our daughter to have babies when she grows up.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency