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
One of the reasons out of many is definitely the “pregnancy boycott”. There are some young women who are saying “no” to getting pregnant and having children, or even getting into relationships at all. One of the reasons is the insane work culture and the unrealistic expectations put on women that they should to be able to put insane hours into work AND do all the housework and childrearing on top of that. They’d also be heavily judged by their in-laws, etc., and so there’s a lot of negativity and sacrifice that comes out of becoming married and getting pregnant.
Another is to boycott against the sexist treatment of women by men. Around 60~70% of women in their 20s consider themselves to be “feminist”, and around 80~90% of men in their 20s consider themselves to be “anti-feminist”. So there’s already a big divide among sexes in young people.
There are many reasons. Some are cultural, but in some ways it’s just ahead of what will happen everywhere eventually. Japan is even further along with a very aging population, but what makes SK stand out is the speed of which the birthrate dropped (and surpassed Japan on it’s way down).
I noticed with some Korean friends that they do in fact want to have children (they have a partner, a house, etc) but know once they get pregnant the company will try to push them out. A difficult issue as I believe it’s officially illegal to fire women for pregnancy, so instead they pressure you in subtle ways and make you quit yourself. Then after raising your child it’s quite hard to get back into the job market.
People already discussed more than enough cultural problems. I want to add that there is a line of thinking in Koreans about whether it is really a morally justifiable choice to create another human being and force him or her to suffer the way you already did.
The factors that let the birthrate fall are everywhere the same:
1. Better education > Women don’t have to become housewives in order to “survive”
2. Economic pressure to earn money > not being able to afford children
3. Climate, societal and political outlook is uncertain> People don’t want children.
4. Couples want to spend more time together > Couples delay making children
5. Medical advancements and healthier lifestyles > old people live longer so inheritance doesn’t trickle down to their children (point 2)
In South Korea all factors are just dialed to an extreme.
The thing about industrialization then urbanization is that it becomes a cost burden to have kids. When you had farms, that’s extra helping hands, in an urban setting, kids still remain a higher cost but without the helping hand. That’s why you’re seeing a huge dip in population in places like China, Russia, and mostly everywhere in the world.
China’s urbanization exploded, coupled with their one child policy, it may be too late for them to get enough kids to keep their infrastructure from crumbling In a few years.
I suspect south Korea is in a similar boat.
A few reasons:
1. Higher levels of tertiary educational attainment by women tends to push birth rates down. Well educated folks tend to prioritize themselves and their careers more, versus poorly educated women are forced by society to be housewives and produce children generally. South Korea has one of the highest rates of college graduation in the world now
2. Real estate. Korea is a rugged, mountainous, densely populated peninsula. Over half the population lives in the Seoul metro area, which is the economic engine of the country. The policies around housing are a bit different than some other countries: it’s more common to deposit “key money” (or at least was a decade ago when I lived there) which is a large chunk of cash to get an apartment, which usually requires savings from your parents to afford. If you’re not from a wealthy established family, the prospect of financing the apartments of multiple children is dauting for parents
3. On the education note, it’s a very competitive job market. If you don’t get into a top 3 university, like Seoul National or Yonsei, your job prospects are pretty minimal. Not sure on now, but a few years ago Koreans spent a larger % of their income on education than any other OECD nation. You want the best tutoring and extracurriculars money can buy to give your children a chance at a good career, otherwise there’s minimal upwards mobility
4. Culturally, some East Asian countries like Korea and Japan have ranked very low in gender equality indexes. When the option is “remain single, have a social life and career” versus “give all that up to get married and become a housewife” increasingly more and more people just stay single into their 30s. As others have mentioned, the idea of a single mother is very much frowned upon socially, and getting pregnant out of wedlock (or getting divorced and having kids) has historically been very much frowned upon
5. Work/life balance. While it’s changing and becoming more relaxed, historically Korea had the highest working hours of any OECD country. When you’re working 12+ hour days, and socially obligated to go out drinking with your coworkers & managers at night to have any shot at a promotion, there’s not enough time in the day for a healthy amount of sleep, much less to have and raise children
Those are the main reasons I’d say, though I’m sure there are some other minor ones as well.
TL;DR – Korea is very densely populated, very well educated, has a hyper competitive education & career market, and it’s just very “expensive” both in time and money to raise kids relative to most other countries
Contrary to American pop culture, South Korea is not actually a fun place to live. It’s crazy expensive to have a kid, and once you do the chances that they kill themselves over academic pressure is pretty high.
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Hello,
Korean-American here with many relatives still in Korea who I’ve actively talked with this about.Also, I tutor SAT on the side of my actual job which partially answers this question as well.
1. Work Culture: Koreans work far more than your 40 hour week. There is a very heavy “Come in early, and leave after your boss leaves” mentality. On top of that, drinking culture is **huge** in Korea. Often times you are “invited” – with a heavy emphasis on recommended – to go to these to maintain work relationships. This leaves very little family time.
2. Education: Korea is **hyper**-competitive in the education scene. This means that most people are spending ridiculous amounts of money – money they may not have – on their children for Hakwons (before and after school tutoring). It isn’t uncommon for a family to spend **20%+** of their overall income on extra education. (Korean parents pay me $150/hr for SAT tutoring and $4,000+ to SAT summer programs… and this is America).
3. Housing: Housing – much like America… even more so actually – is getting beyond ridiculous in terms of price. Many people have to take out high interest loans from private sources to even buy a semi-decent house to live in.
Combine these three factors, among many others, and it’s not surprising that many are going the DINK route: Double Income No Kids.
Literal birth strikes:
“No dates, no sex, no weddings, no kids: Korean women are standing up to Asian machismo
The movement of the ‘four no’s’ poses strong opposition to patriarchy in South Korea, which has the largest wage gap of the developed countries”
https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-04-01/no-dates-no-sex-no-weddings-no-kids-korean-women-are-standing-up-to-asian-machismo.html
“President Yoon Suk-yeol, elected last year, has suggested feminism is to blame for blocking “healthy relationships” between men and women. But he’s got it backward — gender equality is the solution to falling birthrates. Many of the Korean women shunning dating, marriage and childbirth are sick of pervasive sexism and furious about a culture of violent chauvinism. Their refusal to be “baby-making machines,” according to protest banners I’ve seen, is retaliation. “The birth strike is women’s revenge on a society that puts impossible burdens on us and doesn’t respect us,” says Jiny Kim, 30, a Seoul office worker who’s intent on remaining childless.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/27/opinion/south-korea-fertility-rate-feminism.html
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