South Koreans’ record-breaking reluctance to have babies is prompting renewed efforts to stave off a demographic crisis that threatens to weigh on the country’s economic growth and social welfare system.
The country set a fresh mark for the world’s lowest fertility rate last year, and separate projections indicate that the population will halve by the end of the century. Even Elon Musk has weighed in, portraying South Korea’s situation as "dire.”
Calling the fertility lows a national "calamity,” South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol plans to sharply increase cash payments for new parents. But like in other developed economies with an acutely low birthrate, Korean policymakers are confronting a problem that a handout alone won’t solve.