South Korean government is struggling with demographic problems

By Alimat Aliyeva

The South Korean government is trying to stop the sharp decline in the birth rate, but it is difficult for politicians to convince many people between the ages of 20 and 30 that having children is a more profitable investment than stylish clothes or expensive restaurants, Azernews reports.

Asia's fourth largest economy plans to create a new ministry that will deal with demographic problems, Reuters writes. The decision to create the ministry came after dozens of policy measures, including subsidies for the abolition of vasectomies, monetary support for families with newborns, free taxi rides and longer paid parental leave, failed to stop the decline in the birth rate.

Young people advocate the principle of You Only Live Once – YOLO (you live once), not seeking to create a family, much less have offspring. The orientation of young people towards momentary pleasures explains why young people do not respond to the government's policy of subsidizing childbearing.

South Korea continues to break its own record for the lowest birth rate in the world, which reached a new low last year. By the end of 2023, the birth rate in the country fell by another 8 percent. In all developed countries, there is a decrease in the birth rate, but not in such an acute form as in South Korea. It is expected that in 50 years the number of citizens of working age will be halved, and the number of people eligible for compulsory military service will decrease by 58 percent. Almost half of the population will be over 65 years old.

Sociologists argue that the lifestyle priorities of Koreans aged 20-30, who are called generations Y and Z, are that, on average, they spend more and save less than the general population or their peers in other countries, and neither one nor the other contributes to the creation of a family.

"They are hunting for status. Their spending habits show that young people are working on their own symbols of success on the Internet, rather than focusing on unattainable goals – to settle down and have children," says Jung Jae-hoon, a sociology professor at Seoul Women's University Ihwa.

Even aggressive interest rate hikes in South Korea over the past three years have failed to curb youth spending. Young people in their 20s and 30s spend the most money in department stores and high-end hotels, and their travel expenses have increased from 33.3 percent to 40.1 percent over the past three years. According to a Morgan Stanley study last year, the refined tastes of Koreans have made them the world's largest consumers of luxury brands per capita and a popular destination for the largest luxury brands.

Of course, financial difficulties are the main reason why South Koreans do not have children, according to a survey conducted by the research company PMI Co in May.

In a survey of 17 developed countries conducted by the American Pew Research Center in 2021 on what makes life meaningful, South Korea was the only country where the main answer was material well-being. In other countries, the main answer was family or health.