eli5: why is South Korea’s birth rate falling harder than other developed countries?

Question

I’ve read some explanations for their falling birth rate. What I don’t understand is, other developed countries also have those problems, their birth rates are low as well, but why are they not as low as SK’s?

In: 2587

Answer 1

From my experience living there, two important points come to mind:

1. People get married pretty late. My friend was 28 and her friends and family complained she was too young to get married.
2. People don’t have a kid unless they can afford one. They’re not into that “uh oh, we’re pregnant now, guess we need to get a side hustle.”