South Korea’s fertility rate, the lowest in the world, dropped further in 2023, from an expected 0.78 children per woman to 0.72 children in 2022. This was reported by Agency Reuters cites data from the Republican Statistics Office.
This is well below the rate of 2.1 per woman needed to maintain a stable population and well below the rate of 1.24 in South Korea in 2015, when concerns about issues such as housing and education costs were lower.
As of 2018, South Korea remains the only member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with a score below 1.
South Korea also has the largest gender pay gap in the OECD; On average, Korean women earn only two-thirds of what men earn.
According to Seoul Women’s University professor Chung Jae-hoon, women in South Korea bear the burden of child care, making it difficult for them to advance in their careers.
South Korea’s demographic crisis has become a major risk to economic growth and the social security system; The country’s population of 51 million will likely halve by the end of this century. The problem is related to the high cost of housing and living.
The problem of low birth rates is typical for economically developed countries of East Asia. According to the results of 2023 in Japan, the minimum number of children born has been updated for the eighth consecutive year.
In China, the birth rate dropped to 1.09 in 2022, which was a record low.
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