Tokyo University professor: Korea's spending for resolving low birth rates is not enough

“South Korea does not spend enough money tackling low birth rates compared to European countries. Given the severity of the issue and the scale of the country’s economy, it does not do its best with the policies and budget currently in place,” said Economics Professor Shintaro Yamaguchi at the University of Tokyo. The renowned scholar who specialized in Japan’s low birthrates and family issues pointed out the South Korean government’s lack of response to the same issues. He told The Dong-A Ilbo on Jan. 12 that South Korea spent 280 trillion won over the past 15 years, adding that it is not a small sum of money per se, but it is only one percent of the country’s GDP.

South Korea spends 1.54 percent of its GDP on family benefits, according to the OECD’s statistics on public budget for family support. The country lags far behind Sweden (3.42 percent) and France (2.92 percent), even below the OECD average of 2.10 percent. It spends less than Japan (1.99 percent) as well.

"It comes as no surprise that people are reluctant to have children in South Korea and Japan, unlike advanced European countries with a well-established welfare system,” the professor said. "There needs to be as much government support as possible to reassure people that society will help them raise their kids.”


sanghun@donga.com