Low fertility is a common social problem faced by many countries and regions around the world, especially in some developed countries and regions with a high level of development.
South Korea's fertility rate has remained extremely low in recent years, making it one of the lowest in the world. In 2022, South Korea's total fertility rate (TFR) fell further to 078, which means that the average woman of childbearing age is expected to have less than 1 child in her lifetime. This figure is well below the replacement level required to keep the population stable (usually 2.).1), indicating that South Korea's natural population growth has fallen into a severe negative growth.
The city of Incheon, South Korea, has issued a high-profile fertility incentive policy of up to 100 million won (about 54.5) for every child born in Incheon60,000 RMB).
This move is undoubtedly a bombshell in the context of the current low fertility rate and aging population in the world.
A pair of respondents in their thirties in Incheon, South Korea, said that the financial pressure is too great, with high housing prices, high education costs, and work-life balance problems. I am worried that I will not be able to provide a good living environment and educational resources for my children, so I choose not to have children.
For the various subsidy policies launched to encourage childbirth (subsidy of 100 million won for the birth of a child, 5460,000 RMB), the interviewee said that this subsidy is indeed very large, and it will definitely reduce the financial burden of young couples to a certain extent.
However, financial subsidies alone are not enough, because the cost of raising a child is much more than that, including time, energy, and future education.
As we all know, South Korea has been plagued by a low fertility rate in recent years, and its fertility rate has fallen below the lowest level in the world, resulting in a series of economic and social problems such as imbalance in social structure and labor shortage.
The high birth subsidy policy launched by the city of Incheon** aims to reduce the financial pressure on families in the process of child-rearing through direct economic incentives, stimulate the willingness of young couples to have children, and thereby increase the fertility rate in the local and national areas.
However, low fertility is not simply a matter of economic cost, but is also deeply related to gender equality in the workplace, the allocation of educational resources, the burden of housing, and the improvement of social security systems.
Therefore, although high fertility subsidies can play a certain role in stimulating in the short term, it remains to be seen how to solve the dilemma of low fertility in the long run.
In the face of an aging population and declining fertility rate, China has also launched a series of policies to encourage childbirth in recent years, including birth subsidies.
For example, Panzhihua City is one of the earliest cities in the country to implement high birth subsidies. On July 28, 2021, Panzhihua City issued the "Sixteen Policies and Measures on Promoting the Gathering of Human Resources", which clarified the priority for children according to the national policy.
Second, the family with the third child will be given a certain amount of subsidy. For eligible families, having two or three children can get 3A subsidy of 60,000 yuan.
Huangzhugen Natural Village, Baodun Administrative Village, Yingzi Town, Lianjiang, Guangdong Province, actively responded to the call of the state and posted the "Announcement on Subsidizing the Birth of Children of Huangzhugen Lin Brothers".
According to the announcement, in order to solve the problem of "easy to live and difficult to raise" for villagers, it was decided to subsidize babies born from September 1, 2021, and give each baby a childcare subsidy of 3,000 to 3,300 yuan per month until the age of two and a half. A total of $90,000 or $9$90,000 until millions of dollars are used up.
Although the sponsor is an individual act, it also shows the problem of fertility and parenting of contemporary people from another side.
Compared with the birth subsidy in Incheon, South Korea, it is still far from it.
Overall, Incheon's high fertility subsidy policy is undoubtedly an innovative attempt to boost fertility, but in order to achieve sustainable fertility growth, it is necessary to combine a series of supporting policies and social reforms to truly solve the problem at the root cause. Only in this way can we look forward to a healthier and more vibrant population and a more harmonious and prosperous society in the near future.