South Korea plans to inject more than 30 trillion won (US$31.77 billion) into the social welfare infrastructure and safety net over the next five years to raise the tumbling birth rate to what it was nearly 10 years ago, government officials said.
As the first part of an ambitious three-phase plan to be implemented until 2020, the Ministry of Health and Welfare presented a draft plan to tackle the country's low birth rate, promising to spend 32 trillion won by 2010 to establish an environment that encourages families to have more children.
South Korea's fertility rate fell to 1.08 per woman last year, down from 1.16 the previous year, to hit a record low in 2005 as more and more women engaged in economic activities and married older, according to the latest data from the National Statistical Office (NSO). The figure was 1.65 in 1995.
The number of newborn babies fell by 38,000, or 7.9 percent, to 438,000 last year.
The birth rate figure represents the average number of babies that a woman in the 15-49 age range gives birth to during her lifetime.
Last year's fertility rate for the country is far lower than the world average of 2.6 and the average 1.57 in advanced countries, according to the office.
Such a trend has naturally spurred the country to become an aging society in 2000, when the ratio of the population aged 65 or older exceeded 7 percent.
The figure is expected to double by 2018, when South Korea is expected to officially become an aged society. Amid the growing number of elderly, the country's population is expected to dwindle from 2020 due to the falling birth rate.
South Korea's economic productivity could face a serious blow, as the NSO expects the number of people able to participate in economic productivity to drop to 22.76 million by 2050 if the trend continues. The number stands at 33.69 million as of the end of 2005.
The pan-ministerial draft plan, drawn up together with 17 other ministries and state agencies, prioritizes aid to relieve the burdens of child rearing. The government hopes for the blueprint to act as a spur for the country to raise its birth rate up to the 1.6 level by 2020.
The government has earmarked 18 trillion won to expand child care support until 2010, widening the scope of eligibility from the low-income to middle-income households.
It also will dedicate a large portion of the budget to alleviate the country's notorious private education costs by helping schools to initiate more after-school classes.
The number of nursery schools is set to nearly double from 1,325 at present to allow mothers to engage in economic activities.
The government also plans to dedicate 7 trillion won to ensure a safe post-retirement life for the elderly by strengthening "reverse mortgage" initiatives and expanding the number of nursing homes.
With a reverse mortgage, people receive a certain amount of money on a regular basis from financial institutions using their homes as collateral, and the ownership of the home is taken over by the lender after the term of this kind of mortgage ends.
Additionally, nearly 6 trillion won will be invested in securing next-generation growth engines for the economy.
Nearly 35 percent of the funding will come from the country's central tax reserves, 40 percent from regional tax reserves and 25 percent will be channeled from state and private funds.
"Through the comprehensive initiative, South Korea plans to retain its fallen birth rate around 1.6 by 2020," ministry said in a statement.
The proposed blueprint will be screened and fine tuned by a presidential committee set up to tackle the country's low birth rate and rapid transition into an aging society, to be concluded this month. Seoul, June 7 (Yonhap News)
S. Korea to spend $32 billion to boost birth rate to mid-1990s level |
