The headline is the story, but here's the rest of it, anyway.
Two-Pronged Approach Needed to Counter Low BirthrateThe Presidential Council for Future and Vision has come up with a set of measures to deal with Korea's low birthrate, including lowering the school entry age from six to five, providing special privileges for families with three or more kids, and extending the retirement age of parents of three or more children. The council said it will also provide job training to single mothers and increase financial support for domestic adoptions in order to discourage single women from seeking abortions.
At 1.22 children per woman, Korea has one of the lowest birthrates in the world, less than half the global average of 2.54 and below the average of 1.64 of advanced countries. Welfare payments to those 65 or older will rise from W2.47 trillion (US$1=W1,154) this year to W30.3 trillion in 2030. State health insurance spending is forecast to rise from W34 trillion in 2008 to W81 trillion in 2030, with 30 percent going to pay for health care for senior citizens. In 2008 there were seven Koreans of working age (15 to 64) to support each senior citizen. In 2036 the ratio will shrink to one to one, placing a tremendous strain on the economy.
France managed to boost its birthrate from 1.66 during the mid-1990s to 2.07 last year. In France, women with more than two children are given 42,500 euros (around W72 million) in state support until the children reach age 20. The money is handed out as congratulatory payments marking conception and childbirth, and as funds for school supplies and other child-rearing costs. Such efforts cost the country around 88.3 billion euros a year or 4.7 percent of its GDP. If the present birthrate continues, France would face no shortage of economically active people, and have to spend only 3.2 percent of its GDP on health care and pension payments for senior citizens by 2050, compared to the 4.2 percent expected in other European countries. But Korea spends only W3.2 trillion or 0.35 percent of its GDP to support childbirth and rearing as of 2007.
Child-rearing costs and fears of financial hardship after retirement are key factors that prevent people from having more children. Many couples are afraid they will end up retiring without any savings if they spend the bulk of their earnings on education and other expenses for two or more children. In 1980, 72.4 percent of senior citizens were cared for by their children, but that fell to 31.1 percent in 2003. By the time the current generation of young people reaches old age, the tradition of supporting one's parents will have become a remnant of the past.
Advanced countries offer comprehensive welfare benefits. They not only support the cost of raising children, but also guarantee the financial stability of elderly citizens after retirement. But the situation is quite different for the average Korean worker, who faces the constant threat of layoffs, may have already cashed in his pension, and lives in a nation where programs such as annuity insurance to prepare for life after retirement are just budding. Everyone feels pressured to have fewer children so they can save for retirement
Such fears about life in old age must also be addressed in order to encourage people to have more children. For the government's steps to boost the birthrate to be effective, they should not only focus on easing childcare costs but also include welfare programs for senior citizens.
You know you love it you dirty bitch!