Do you know? Korea, once a country that once swept the world with its "Korean Wave" culture, is now facing a serious challenge: the fertility rate has plummeted to 0.72, the lowest in the world
。 This means that, on average, every woman of childbearing age in this country has less than one child. President Yoon Suk-yeol even declared a "state of emergency" in the country, calling on the people to have more children to avoid the "disappearance" of the country's future
。
But the problem is far more complex than the numbers on the surface. Young people in Korea, faced with high housing prices, education costs and workplace pressures, many choose to live a "dink" life - no children, not even married. Soaring housing prices in Seoul have deterred many young people, and sexism and bullying in the workplace have made women even more reluctant to have children
。
The government's "birth-producing" policies, such as childcare subsidies and exemption from tuition fees at the school level, do not seem to be effective in boosting fertility intentions. Some experts have even put forward the "bad idea" of having men and women live together to increase fertility rates, but such proposals ignore human rights and deeper social issues
。
Korea's plight is not an isolated case, with both China, Japan and South Korea facing the challenge of declining fertility rates, but the situation in Korea is particularly prominent. The excessive concentration of resources in Seoul has led young people to "live and die" in order to stay in the capital, and the latter is often abandoned in the choice between survival and childbearing
。
This is not only a crisis for a country, but also a microcosm of an era. In these challenging times, how to balance life and childbearing, and how to make young people willing and able to take on the responsibility of raising the next generation, is a question that every society needs to ponder. What are your thoughts on this? Welcome to leave a message to discuss.
