This speculation is not unreasonable. In recent years, the lowest birth rate in the world has been maintained by South Korea, and it is getting worse. From the birth rate of 0.84 in 2020 to 0.8 1 in 2026, and then to 0.78 in 2022, it is far beyond the international warning line of 1.8. It is no exaggeration to say that it is really at a critical juncture.
In the world, the birth rate of 2. 1 (generally speaking, a woman has two children) is regarded as the generational replacement level of the population, and the birth rate in South Korea is far below this level at present. Faced with this situation, the Korean government has not turned a blind eye and made great efforts, but it has not reversed the embarrassing situation.
Facing the low fertility rate, South Korea launched a five-year cycle plan in 2006, and provided 380.2 trillion won (equivalent to 2 trillion yuan) for this purpose. But the fertility rate is always terrible, from 1. 13 in 2006 to 0.78 in 2022.
Why don't young people want to have children when there are welfare policies? Mainly because of the pressure of life, the high cost of having children and the change of ideas.
Some time ago, a joke was popular on the Internet: "China people don't have holidays, Koreans don't sleep, and Japanese don't eat. The three countries in East Asia have each died. " Although it is only a joke, it also reflects the great pressure of the working groups in these three countries.
Aside from China and Japan, let's talk about South Korea first. The workplace in Korea is even more cruel than ours, as can be seen from Korean artists. Less work, more competition. Working during the day, drinking and talking about business at night, even the time to sleep is squeezed out.
In addition to the workplace, housing prices in South Korea are also surprisingly high. A research institute has done a study: "A middle-income family in Seoul needs to eat and drink 19 years to buy a middle-income house in Seoul. According to calculations, the average price of a house in Seoul is about RMB 6.54 million. "
In addition, young Koreans need housing, bride price, gift money, jewelry and so on. When they got married. The average cost of marriage is about 6.5438+0.76 million yuan, while the per capita income of South Korea is only 6.5438+0.9 million yuan. Compared with this, it seems that we are more pitiful than them.
In addition to the pressure of life, the high cost of raising children and the change of young people's thinking are also important factors restricting their fertility. Children need to be looked after when they are born. Milk powder, diapers and so on all need money. When children grow up and go to school, all kinds of cram schools will cost you money until you lose your temper (my high school classmate who lives in Korea must say that children can't afford tuition now).
Another fact is that today's young people are not like the older generation. They raise their children to guard against old age, and more are eating, drinking and having fun. This is not only the idea of young people in Korea, but also the idea of young people in slightly developed countries. According to authoritative data, the average marriage age of Korean women is 3 1.3 years old, while that of men is 33.7 years old. During the interview, many young Koreans said that they don't need to raise children to prevent their old age and don't want children.
Life is really too tired, and young people are eager for freedom, so everyone is unwilling to have children. In addition, not only Korean youth are like this, but so are we.