Last Updated on 05/09/2024 by Arun jain
A city district in South Korea aims to combat the country’s declining birth rate pays its citizens To start a relationship and have children, The Korean Times informed.
According to the Korean Times, the Saha-gu District Office in Busan is holding a matchmaking event in October, and is offering 1 million won ($750) to people who start dating as a result.
“The project is designed to overcome the demographic crisis amid South Korea’s low birth rate by creating a multicultural local community in the future,” district chief Lee Gap-jun said, according to Asian-American news site NextShark.
The district will hold blind-date events for “single Korean and foreign men and women” between the ages of 23 and 43 who live or work in the area, The Korean Times informed. If a couple survives and begins preparing for the wedding, including meeting each other’s families, they each receive an additional $1,490.
Once the couple gets married, the district council will give them an additional $14,900. Newlyweds can also get $22,350 for a home deposit or rental assistance for the next five years which can be up to $600. New Zealand Herald.
South Korea’s birth rate continues to decline, falling to 0.72 births per woman in 2023. Newsweek reported earlier. According to Statista, the country needs At least 2.1 births per woman To keep the population growing.
Jung Jae-hoon, a professor of sociology at Seoul Women’s University, told Reuters that South Koreans are now choosing to spend more money on themselves than starting a family.
They are also the world’s leading spenders on luxury goods, spending $325 per capita on these items. By comparison, in neighboring Japan, it’s just $210 per capita and $280 per capita in the US, according to a 2023 poll by financial services provider Morgan Stanley.
The Guardian 2022 reported that the country has seen a shift towards increasing numbers in society adult Choosing the single life.
Korean newspaper Chosun Daily reported it 81 percent of young adults prefers to live with their parents in South Korea. The outlet attributes this to statistics showing that it takes on average a year for a young South Korean to start working after finishing education.
Newsweek The South Korean embassy in the US has been contacted for comment.
Saha’s measures are not the first initiative taken to increase the birth rate in the country. Many companies have started their rewards for employees who choose to start a family. A construction giant Booyong Group offers $75,000 to their employees Every child has them, Newsweek Reported in March 2024.
“If Korea’s birth rate remains low, the country faces extinction,” said company chairman Lee Jong-kyun.
In July this year, South Korean President Eun Suk Yeol announced the new formation Ministry of Birth Rate To deal with what he called a “national crisis”. Newsweek reported earlier. The ministry will monitor the scale of demographic issues such as aging population, migration and labor force besides reducing birth rate.
as Newsweek As previously reported, other government agencies are also working on finding a solution to the decline. The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family are looking into South Koreans’ work-life balance in hopes that it can encourage citizens to start families.
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