South Korea 'crisis' of low birth rate, people 'accept not having children'

South Korea is facing the world's lowest birth rate, yet 65% of women and 41% of men surveyed are okay with a life without children.

More than 65% of women and more than 40% of adult Korean men surveyed said they accept life without children - Photo: YONHAP

According to The Korea Times on December 22, a report by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) said that nearly half of adults of reproductive age in the country who participated in the survey said that living without children is completely acceptable.

The survey collected opinions from 4,000 people aged 19-79 across the country, taking place from November 3 to December 6.

The results showed that more than 52.6% of survey participants did not mind not having children, while only 30.2% thought it was better to have children, and 10.3% said they must have at least one child.

Notably, the percentage of women responding that they do not need children reached 63.5%, significantly higher than 41.2% of men.

The report also said the trend of not wanting to have children was more common among women, especially those in their 20s and those with low incomes.

Even among those who were married, 69.3% said they felt no interest in having more children.

36.2% of them said they would not have children, 19.2% said they would have children in the future, and 11.5% were unsure.

The main reasons for not wanting to have children included age (20.5%), the cost of raising children (18.2%), economic conditions (16%), and lack of confidence in the role of parent (10.3%).

"Economic factors such as employment, housing costs and child-rearing costs negatively affect marriage and childbearing. It is important to create more stable jobs, reduce housing costs and reduce the burden of private education costs," said Kim Eun Jung, a researcher at KIHASA.

South Korea's birth rate, already the world's lowest, is set to hit a new record in 2023, despite billions of dollars invested to reverse the trend.

Figures from Statistics Korea show that the country's fertility rate has fallen to 0.72 children per woman from 0.78 in 2022 - far below the 2.1 children needed to maintain the current population of 51 million.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/han-quoc-khung-hoang-sinh-con-it-nguoi-dan-chap-nhan-khong-con-cai-20241223173053926.htm