Birthrate continues slide

[splendidlure.livejournal.com]

By Cho Jin-seo

The number of births fell for the second consecutive year in 2009, closing on the record-low level of 2005.

The sluggish birth rate reaffirms earlier projections that the national population will begin to shrink after peaking around 2017. This demographic shift is expected to affect the country’s economic growth, while it may improve citizens’ life conditions in this highly congested country.

The annual report from the government statistics office showed Tuesday that there were some 445,000 babies born in Korea last year, down from 466,000 in 2006 and 493,000 in 2007.

The total fertility rate ― the average number of children a woman is expected to have for her lifetime ― has also decreased to 1.15 last year from 1.25 in 2007.

International comparisons show that Korea is unique among big economies that its birth rate has been sliding over the past 10 years.
Some other nations, such as the United Kingdom and Italy, have seen significant increases in their birth rate in recent years. The fertility rates were 1.37 in Japan, 2.09 in the United States and 1.38 in Germany in 2008.

Though it is clear that modern Korean women want to have fewer babies than before, that is not the only reason of the decreasing youth population. Another problem is that the number of women themselves is decreasing, and more of them choose to remain single year by year.

“The decreasing female population of fertile age and fewer marriages were the main factors for the decrease in births in 2009,” the Statistics Korea report said.

Weddings are no longer a mandatory issue for Koreans. Between 2007 and 2009, the number of marriages fell by almost 10 percent. This is critical for the birth rate, since single women are socially discouraged from having babies.

Even for those who choose to get married, their average age is increasing. In 2009, the average age of moms giving birth was 31.

Tuesday’s report also showed a widening gap between urban and rural birth rates. In Seoul and other major cities, the average woman is believed to have only one child. In South Chungcheong and South Jeolla Provinces, moms are expected to have 1.4 kids on average.
credit: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2010/08/123_71927.html

Comments

[lilykt7.livejournal.com]

Cee Lo- Fuck You

ironic

[splendidlure.livejournal.com]

I'm super addicted to the song. I can't stop. It's like crack.

[i-n-o-j.livejournal.com]

ease immigration restrictions like every other modern nation, duh

[maple88.livejournal.com]

this sfm.

[kuroidi.livejournal.com]

korea needs more baby making music!

[akaich0u.livejournal.com]

[maple88.livejournal.com]

Korea needs to relax their unwritten social rules before the birth rate can improve.

[earenya-beryl.livejournal.com]

Wow...just about one child per family...and the fact that they prefer males rather than females to carry the family name and everything.I couldn't imagine only having one child as my mum had five and my elder sister have 4 boys by the time she's 36.

But I think the very patriarchal society could be one of the reasons the women doesn't think too highly of the family institution.

[cloud9angel.livejournal.com]

hey top i'm free! come on over we can help the birth rate! ok that was....i'll just shut up now lol

[lilykt7.livejournal.com]

its not all society here though.

nature kinda sucks. i mean nowadays its not uncommon for a woman to feel ready to settle down and have a family at a later age. say mid 30's or something. with longer lifespans thats bound to happen. but now we're running into all these problems with older women not being to have kids. I mean obviously there are tons of women out there who have kids later in life with no problems but it definitely gets harder.

i think thats such a sad problem. not much to do with the article, kinda just a tangent thats been bothering me. i just wish our species would adapt already and realize that no, we do not want to have kids at 18 even if our body is ready to.

[maple88.livejournal.com]

Two of the many reasons:

They frown upon anyone taking maternity leave (http://jezebel.com/5482891/south-korean-women-peer-pressured-into-passing-on-maternity-leave)
And hate on single mothers (http://jezebel.com/5377193/in-south-korea-single-parenthood-is-a-radical-choice)

[queenhinata.livejournal.com]

+1 for referencing Jezebel

[peachie-ego.livejournal.com]

In these shitty economic times esp there, I don't blame [korean] people for wanting to hold off on having kids especially if you're struggling just to take of yourself.

[splendidlure.livejournal.com]

yes. hands up to the ladies who feel no need to settle down. go on with your independent self ;D

[last-thread.livejournal.com]

If Korea wasn't so :| about interracial Korean babehs it might help them fix their population crisis ;D

[kittycurious.livejournal.com]

Damn, wtf. It dropped so drastically from 2000 to 2002, and then to 2005. Wtf happened? Then it raised up to 2007. They need to figure out what was going on during 2005-2007 and exploit it.

[lilykt7.livejournal.com]

2006- Big Bang debuts.



your welcome korea.

[royalantares.livejournal.com]

I talked to my mom about this before and she said that it's because women are fired when they get pregnant. I don't know if this is true anymore or if it only happened in a specific area/time.
Nonetheless, give more rights to women, SK.

[byronsbitch.livejournal.com]

It has a lot to do with it, not just in SK but here too. That's one of the reasons I don't want to have children. I can't imagine leaving my kids with a nanny at such a young age plus it costs so fucking much. But once you're out of the workforce for any extended length of time then it's hard to get back in. This is even more true for the professions such as law, accounting, etc where things change all the time.

[byronsbitch.livejournal.com]

Immigration! That's what we do here in Australia. Sure it has its problems but I love the multicultural society I live in :)

[miyavi-type.livejournal.com]

It's good to see women taking charge of their own lives instead of having to be tied down by an oppressive institution. It's good to know that Korean women aren't that desperate or feel pressured to get married and not pursue their own lives.

On a similar note, it's your own damn fault Korea for not taking care of your women as you should.

[albertineroom.livejournal.com]

I think it can all be pinpointed to that god-damn Single Ladies song. Fuck you Beyoncé.

[kms012.livejournal.com]

I LOL'D IRL!

[wintersol.livejournal.com]

Well eff. SK why don't you take a few pages out of other major countries book and ease up on immigration, then reverse some of that old-timey gender role crap, and then you might be able to break 1.5 kids.

Also, women, just suck it up and get a husband and pop out a few kids. Plenty of women lead happy and engaging lives while raising a a bunch of kids.

[byronsbitch.livejournal.com]

Also, women, just suck it up and get a husband and pop out a few kids. Plenty of women lead happy and engaging lives while raising a a bunch of kids.

lol how about no. Maybe when men are ready to be stay at home dads and when discrimination against mothers in the workforce ends, maybe then I would agree.

[tiddlywinks103.livejournal.com]

Crazy what happens when women actually decide whether to carry a baby to term, not to mention to avoid social stigma from a patriarchal society for being a single parent. :/ This is just a symptom of a larger a problem most patriarchal societies have.

from a comment poster's link

[sackofsha.livejournal.com]

Ms. Choi, the hairdresser, said her family changed its phone number to avoid contact with her. When her father was hospitalized and she went to see him with her baby, she said, her sister blocked them from entering his room. When she wrote to him, she said, her father burned the letters. Last year, about three years after the birth, he finally accepted Ms. Choi back into his home.

D: wat

[taecish.livejournal.com]

if i had a vagina i would gladly bear the babies of some korean men

[831panda831.livejournal.com]

you make me smile

[la-geni.livejournal.com]

America, why did our birth rates decide to go up in the crappiest economic years? Did Bush's dumb just infect us more? Then Obama came in and people decided to do something besides make babies? I think that's it.

[la-geni.livejournal.com]

Oh and btw, my grandfather was biracial (Mexican/European) and hate crimes where committed against him for being who he is...in Mexico. Now, as an adult, I get so much shit from my fellow Latinos for being too white in AMERICA. As if I can help. My great-grandmother was tall, white, pale as all fuck and blue-eyed. WTH color and height am I supposed to come out as? Short and brown? How exactly?

That's why I would sign myself up to bear a few mixed babies but xenophobia is an ugly thing and I don't think most of us have the heart to take it on.

[vegasol.livejournal.com]

What's the point about having high birth rates anyway?

WE'RE 6 BILLION PEOPLE, CLOSING IN ON 7, LIVING IN THIS WORLD. THE EARTH CAN BARELY SUPPORT US AS IT IS.

Therefore, I support adoption wholeheartedly. Besides, why bring another child into an already crowded world when I could give a loving home and a chance at a decent future to some orphan child who'd otherwise grow up at an orphanage with inadequate possibilities to improve his or her own life?

[byronsbitch.livejournal.com]

population growth is one of the main things that pushes economic growth so yea in that sense it does matter.

[jangwooyoung.livejournal.com]

A decline in birth rate is not good for the country at all, but I don't find that rise in birth rate any better for the UK.

Realistically all birth rates should be steady, I know, I know, obvious statement is obvious.

[manicmidnights.livejournal.com]

Another problem is that the number of women themselves is decreasing.



Lol.

[831panda831.livejournal.com]

.... I wonder why SK ... >.>

[episkia.livejournal.com]

and korea has one of the highest percentages of putting up their babies up for adoption
because of course, they still have really traditional morals, values and expectations and would rather prefer to ignore that young people have sex before marriage (and that guys can be raped too). so then the girls are pressured to give their kid up, or they don't want him/her anyway.

i'm not hating on korea or anything guys. every country has their stigmas etc, and korea is finding it harder than most. after all, we still had a dynasty until the early 1900s that started in what the 1200s or something and not much changed within that. and then BAM korean war, america, and crap westernisation and technology. my grandparents are pretty open minded, and my grandmother all POWER TO WOMEN because obviously she didn't get that when she was young. but it's a crazy divide they're trying to fight.