Why are South Korean women not interested in having children?

Muhammad Forhad

28 Feb, 2024

South Korean women do not want to give birth for various reasons Photo: Bengali Vogue

One rainy Tuesday, Yejin was in his apartment preparing lunch for friends. The 'happy' man lives alone in this house on the outskirts of Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

As the friends begin to eat and drink together, one of them pulls up a well-known meme of a cartoon dinosaur on the phone. There was the dinosaur saying, "Caution". Do not annihilate yourselves like us.'

All the women present laughed at the meme.

Yejin is a 30-year-old television producer. "It's funny, but also dark," he said of the meme. Because, we know, we can become the cause of our own extinction.

Neither Yejin nor any of his friends plan to have children. In South Korea, Yejin and her friends are part of a growing society of women choosing to be childless.

South Korea has the lowest birth rate in the world. This decline continues. In this case, the country is leaving behind its record year after year.

South Korea's birth rate fell another 8 percent to 0.72 last year, according to statistics released on Wednesday.

The birth rate indicates how many children a woman intends to have in her lifetime. To keep the population of a country stable, this rate should be 2.1.

South Korea's population will be cut in half by 2100 if current birth rates continue.

'National Emergency'

There is a downward trend in the birth rate in developed countries around the world. But no country is like South Korea. The future of the country is dire.

In the next 50 years, South Korea's working population will halve, the population eligible for conscription will shrink by 58 percent, and nearly half of the population will be over 65.

It bodes so badly for South Korea's economy, pensioners and national security that politicians have declared the situation a 'national emergency'.

Couples with children in various Asian countries are offered monthly benefits ranging from subsidized housing and free taxi rides to cash. Hospital bills and other medical benefits are provided only to married people.

But such financial incentives are not helping to increase birth rates in countries like South Korea. In this situation politicians are looking for more 'creative' solutions to deal with the 'emergency'. For example: borrowing nurses from Southeast Asian countries, paying them less than the minimum wage, and exempting men who fathered three children before the age of 30 from military service.

Although policy makers are looking for ways to solve the problem, they are accused of not listening to the needs of the young population, especially women. So last year, a BBC journalist visited South Korea and spoke to women trying to find out the reasons behind their decision not to adopt children.

Yejin decided to be single when he was in his twenties. He began to ignore South Korean social norms. Being alone there is considered a temporary arrangement in the early stages of one's life.

Then, five years ago Yezin decided not to marry and not have children. He said, 'It is difficult to find like-minded people in Korea. He added, "And women who only have children (not involved in gainful activities) are not treated kindly."

'A life tied to a non-stop cycle of work'

Rather than marrying, having children, Yezin focused on building a career in television channels. His reasoning is that he does not have time to take care of children or raise them while working.

Yejin works 9-6 in his office. However, he said, usually he can't go out before 8 pm. Apart from this there is overtime work. When you get home, make time to clean the house and do some exercise before bed.

"I love my job. It gives me great fulfillment. But working in Korea is difficult. You will be stuck in a non-stop cycle of work,' says Yezin.