Because of the low delivery charge, the South Korean president declares a demographic emergency

Korea C – South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol declared a demographic emergency within the nation because of inhabitants decline, pledging to make all-out efforts to extend the variety of births.

In a press release throughout a gathering of the Presidential Fee on Declining Delivery Charges and Inhabitants Getting old, Yoon stated: “As we speak, I formally declare a nationwide demographic emergency. We’ll activate a complete response system on the authorities degree till the issue of the low delivery charge is overcome.”

Yoon recognized 3 major areas specializing in reaching work-life steadiness, bettering childcare and offering higher housing to deal with these complicated points.

The measures embrace growing parental go away allowances and lengthening go away for fathers, with the goal of elevating the speed of use of parental go away from the present 6.8% to 50%.

Additionally they embrace implementing versatile working hours, extending the minimal age for lowered working hours for fogeys of younger kids, and offering subsidies to employers who rent non permanent replacements for workers taking parental go away.

Yoon additionally pledged to extend help for little one care and increase following-school applications in elementary colleges to ease the tutorial burden on mother and father.

Households with new child kids might be given precedence in housing allowances and low-interest loans to buy properties, to encourage extra newlywed {couples} to have kids.

To make sure the implementation of those measures, Yoon stated a brand new ministry might be created, dubbed the Ministry of Strategic Inhabitants Planning, and its minister will function deputy prime minister for social affairs.

South Korea’s whole fertility charge, the typical variety of kids a girl has in her lifetime, has fallen to a brand new low of 0.72 in 2023, properly under the alternative degree wanted to keep up the nation’s inhabitants at 51 million.

Supply: “Yonhap”