CNN reported on the 4th (local time) that despite the enormous investment of previous governments, Korea is not able to solve the low birth rate problem.



CNN said in an article titled, "South Korea has invested 200 billion dollars (about 260 trillion won), but not enough to have children," saying, "Baby fair season has returned in Korea, but the industry is shrinking and customers are also shrinking." It is decreasing,” he said.



CNN mentioned Korea's total fertility rate of 0.79 in the last three quarters and said, "It broke the world's lowest fertility rate record." ) is lower than that of



"This creates problems for the country, which is an aging country that faces a shortage of labor to support the pension system," he added.



In particular, it pointed out that "this problem is usually to blame for economic factors that prevent young people from having a family, such as high real estate prices, the cost of education and greater economic insecurity."



CNN said, “No matter how much money is invested, it has proven to be beyond the ability of previous governments to solve it,” and experts said that a change in approach is needed.



CNN said that the government had invested more than $200 billion over the past 16 years to increase the population during President Yoon Seok-yeol's visit to the daycare center in September.



Previously, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that it would pay up to 700,000 won per month next year and up to 1 million won per month in 2024 for children under the age of 1 last month (300,000 won per month for home raising and 500,000 won per month for daycare). announced the 4th mid- to long-term master plan for childcare.



"Many experts see the current funding approach as being too one-dimensional and what is needed instead is continuing support for children throughout their lives," CNN noted.



He also criticized, "Having a baby in Korea is expected of married couples," and "Korean society still shows prejudice against single-parent families."



In addition, it added that couples in non-traditional relationships are discriminated against in Korea, such as not providing in vitro fertilization (IVF) to unmarried women, not recognizing same-sex marriage, and making it difficult for unmarried couples to adopt.



In particular, "Husbands who want to be more involved in childrearing find out that the Korean corporate culture does not allow it," he said. There is a building) culture," he pointed out.



It also reported that "Parental leave on paper has increased, but few people feel comfortable taking full parental leave."