Birth rate statistics were announced today (30th). I’m falling without knowing the bottom. We also changed the lowest record. From April to June, the total fertility rate in the second quarter decreased by 0.7 people, down 0.05 people from a year ago. It has been 14 years since quarterly birth rate statistics were published, and this is the lowest number ever published. Looking at the details, the first child has grown slightly. However, the second, third and higher numbers have all decreased. Delayed marriage and childbirth will have a big impact.
I am more worried about the second half of the year. Usually, the birth rate is better in the first half of the year, so since it hit 0.7 in the first half of the year, there are concerns that we could see a number of 0.6 in the second half of the year. The government said it would do everything it could and included over 17 trillion won in budget for low birth rates in next year’s budget released yesterday, but the young couples and young people we met said it was still not easy for them to decide to have children.
Reporter Jeong Hee-yoon listened to it.
[Reporter]
A pediatric clinic in Guro-dong, Seoul.
There are quite a few parents who bring their children from out of town메이저놀이터 to see the doctor.
This is because as the birth rate has decreased, the number of pediatric clinics in each neighborhood has decreased significantly.
[Choi Seon-woo/Bongcheon-dong, Seoul: Pediatric clinics in front of my house are almost disappearing, so I have no choice but to come here… ]
Although the government has come up with measures to reduce the birth rate, such as having up to two children and providing 18 months of parental leave, parents say that this alone is not enough to make them decide to have more children.
They say that even if you receive benefits for multiple children, the burden of childcare costs is too high if you have two children.
[Choi Seon-woo/Bongcheon-dong, Seoul: None of my friends try to have more than one child. (Childcare costs for two children can be said to be three to four times higher.)
It has been decided to increase childcare leave from 12 months to 18 months, but the reality is that it is not easy for a couple to use it all.
[Sim Doo-seon/Mullae-dong, Seoul: I think it would be difficult for a man to use 18 months… As short as 3 to 6 months?]
There is also a big financial reason.
[Sim Doo-seon/Mullae-dong, Seoul: (If you take childcare leave) your money will decrease accordingly. [I also used to be a baby’s mother, but I recently returned to work.]
Young people say that when they see houses raising children around them, they don’t dare to get married.
[Go Sang-jun/Ahyeon-dong, Seoul: Since most of you are raising children while working, you are under a lot of pressure in your daily life, and there has not yet been a situation where you can raise children alone or with two people without any help… ]
From marriage to childbirth and childcare, there still seems to be a long way to go before an environment where people want to have children is created.