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Why South Korean women aren't having babies
- PKop 3y agoHigh population density, like many of the other low birth rate nations. At some point people don't thrive living so close and crowded together. The carrying capacity of civilization has its limits.
- justrealist 3y agoPeople don't like to hear it, but the ultra-dense apartments clearly shred fertility. There's no country with people primarily living in high-rise buildings where TFR is measurably above 1.
- phs318u 3y agoThat’s a really interesting observation. This would presumably drive a measurable difference within the same country between the high-density cities and the rural areas. I wonder if stats are available on a per-locality basis anywhere?
- theogravity 3y ago> "Sometimes at the weekends I go and get an IV drip, just to get enough energy to go back to work on Monday," she adds casually, as if this were a fairly normal weekend activity. Wonder what that IV is full of?
- neom 3y agoI live in Korea. It's common here, vitamin drips, just a concoction of vitamins and amino acids. Here is a Canadian clinic offering the same thing: https://torontofunctionalmedicine.com/the-iv-lounge/ https://torontofunctionalmedicine.com/the-iv-lounge/ I've had them a few times, to be sure, they make you feel awesome.
- theogravity 3y agoTIL. Does it "work"?
- neom 3y agoFeel great after them!!! Def works. Strong recommend from me.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- I_Am_Nous 3y agoI guessed it would just be saline for hydration, but it looks like they do vitamins, minerals, and amino acids via IV in some places[1]. 1. https://expatguidekorea.com/seoul/hydration-iv-therapy-seoul https://expatguidekorea.com/seoul/hydration-iv-therapy-seoul
- toomuchtodo 3y agoDupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39534669 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39534669
- mataug 3y agoThis is a problem in many developed nations, the general reasoning boils down to 1. Cost of living and child care 2. Work, stress and lack of free time 3. Little to no support from society and community. The reason this is affecting Korea, Japan and China so much is that there aren't many immigrants to offset the lack of new children being born. There is a lot of wealth being generated but most of it goes to people who are already wealthy, so most people don't have the "luxury" of enough disposable income, free time, and support to have children. This is not women's fault, its society's failing
- justrealist 3y agoSorry, but you have a very cursory understanding of the issue. Please read the article. South Korea has a TFR of .7. France is 1.6. Those aren't the same, and the difference isn't immigration, or easily explained by money. There are huge cultural issues in South Korea.
- spiderxxxx 3y agoThe culture exacerbates the issues, but they're the same issues that's affecting families everywhere. If I'm making minimum wage, or close to it, and I don't have stability in my job, then I'm not having kids. The only less wealthy people left having kids are those that don't use birth control and don't condone abortion. I had decided that the time was right to have a child after I'd been employed for 6 years in a decent paying job and I wasn't concerned about being laid off. Employers now are preferring younger candidates, those fresh out of college, ones who don't have kids that they have to pick up / drop off from school. They want you connected 100% of the time, checking your email/chat on your time off. That leaves people with offspring feeling like they don't belong. Until that changes, there's going to be less births.
- caesil 3y agoThe problem with this theory is that studies that have looked across countries with different levels of social/economic support find it does very little. When countries get richer, people start having fewer kids, and giving parents money does not offset this (even if that's what people say they want).
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- qwerty456127 3y agoProbably because that is prohibitively expensive for them in terms of money and time. This more or less translates to many modern countries. The only way to solve this problem probably is to provide everyone with great free child care services covering 90%+ of the hassle.
- spiderxxxx 3y agoIt's not though, if you have a baby in SK, you get a lot of perks, FTA: >Couples who have children are showered with cash, from monthly handouts to subsidised housing and free taxis. Hospital bills and even IVF treatments are covered, though only for those who are married. It's not pay after you have a baby that makes people want to have a baby, it's job stability, decent pay and working hours that makes people want to have children.
- mariodiana 3y agoThe Korean women want careers, and if they're open to having children, they want husbands who are willing to split the housework and childrearing fifty-fifty. Going by the article, the complaint is that it's hard to find potential husbands open to that arrangement. Also, going by the testimony of one woman quoted in the article, apparently some of them, when they do find a husband agreeable to splitting the housework—in this particularly case, the dish washing—find that the husband doesn't do the housework to their satisfaction. I don't have a solution for these women, but I notice that the BBC spent a year interviewing Korean women, but no Korean men. I think a solution for the Korean men who maybe want children and wives who neither want careers of their own nor who insist that the domestic duties be split evenly would be something equivalent to the United States's H1-B Visa: namely, aspiring Korean husbands should be able to sponsor and marry foreign wives when no suitable native born candidates can be found.
- majikaja 3y agoMen don't want to work 12 hours a day then come home to do chores
- supertimor 3y agoAnd neither do women. Which is precisely why some of these women are choosing to be single and/or childless.
- majikaja 3y agoWho is forcing them into 12 hour day jobs? Maybe they think they're 'empowered' but let's face it the country is collapsing so most of their careers aren't going to go anywhere. It's still women who still expect men to be high earners, now men have to do half of the housework on top of spending time with children in the evenings then get screamed at for having mediocre finances when their careers flatline. They didn't interview men because the responses would not fit the narrative that the BBC seeks.
- 3y ago
- Qem 3y agoI wonder how does North Korea is faring when compared to its southern rival. Are they experiencing problems on this front too?
- rawgabbit 3y agoThey are starving. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65881803 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65881803