Burden of Raising Kids Drives Korean Fertility to World’s Lowest
- Having children is a career-threatening move for most women
- Housing, education costs, loss of freedom give couples pause
Young students do press ups with a "Alpha Mini" robot in Seoul, South Korea.
Photographer: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
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 Korea’s situation as “dire.”