South Korean women receive incentives from the government to the baby as the country struggles to overcome its low birth rate, according to Yonhap.
Kang Mi-ok received 2 million dinars won (US $ 1,700) from a rural district in central South Korea in August. The money is supposed to promote the birth of a fourth baby.
It is set to receive another 8 million victory in installments by 2020 from Cheongyang County, Gyeonggi Province, to help her raise the baby.
"It is completely Bonanza," said Kang that she cares for four children with his wife in a cafe in Cheongyang, 160 kilometers south of Seoul. Young housewife, said financial incentives are of great help to his family in raising four children.
Kang's case illustrates the desperate efforts of South Korea to raise its birth rate - one of the lowest in the world - at a time when many young people are delaying marriage because they can not find a decent job because of a prolonged economic slowdown. The unemployment rate of young people between 15 and 29 years of age reached 8.4 percent in December, much higher than the overall unemployment rate of 3.2 percent, according to government figures.
South Korea's total fertility rate - the average number of children a woman bears in her life - was 1.24 in 2015, significantly lower than the replacement of 2.1 to keep the population of South Korea's 51 million stable.
Earlier this week, acting President Hwang Kyo-Ahn urged officials to deal with the issues that people are reluctant to marry and birth, noting South Korea failed to get out of the "mud low birth rate" for more than 15 years. Officials of the central and provincial governments meet in Busan on October 28, 2016, to discuss measures to strengthen the nation's birth rate. (Yonhap file photo)
The low birthrate has prompted South Korea's central and provincial governments to come up with financial incentives and other measures in an attempt to encourage young people to have more babies.
Lee Suk-Hwa, chief Cheongyang County, said his county started last year to provide 10 million won to parents who have a fourth baby as part of an effort to encourage more young people to have more babies in rural areas. He also said that his county has established a 20 billion won fund provides scholarships for students from Cheongyang.
"Our policy is to be effective, although there is no noticeable change in the short term," said Li, adding that it could take about 30 years before the birth promotion policy could bring any meaningful demographic shift.
Kim Man-soo, mayor of Bucheon, a city near Seoul, said his city has been revised regulation to provide, among other things, 10 million won to parents who have a fourth baby to strengthen the city birth rate - the lowest in Gyeonggi that surrounds Seoul. In the past, Bucheon only gave 500,000 won to parents who have a third baby.
The move is around the face of the policy of South Korea to the population growth in the past half century.
South Korea has adopted a birth control policy in 1960 to halt the rapid growth of the population at a time when the country rebuild its economy from the ashes of the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. At that time, the government has sent officials to every house in the rural areas to teach them about family planning. It also provides a vasectomy services reserve free of charge in an attempt to reduce the rapid growth of the population.
More than 651,000 people have received surgical sterilization procedure from 1962 to 1983, according to government figures.
The government slogans warned that people could "end up as beggars, if they have children," without family planning. The government has encouraged people to have only one child with slogans like "A second child is too" and "A population explosion is scarier than a nuclear explosion."
The aggressive policy of birth control reduced the total fertility rate in the country at 2.06 in 1983, 6.0 in 1960 fell to a record low of 1.08 in 2005, a dramatic demographic transition, which served as a wake-up call to South Korea because of its policy of population .
South Korea, meanwhile, has struggled to reverse the demographic decline by offering a range of incentives for young people. The government slogans in childbirth have also undergone a view to a change of dire warnings that hope. One of the slogans issued after 2005 reads: "A baby is a joy to family and hope for the future."
The government has spent more than 101600000000000 won in 2006 and 2016 to encourage people to have more babies, although it was not enough to increase the low birth rate. The government said it has allocated more than 22400000000000 won this year help raise the birth rate in the country. "It is fair to say financial incentives are part of South Korea's efforts to raise the low birth rate," said Kye Bong-oh, a sociology professor at Kookmin University and a member of the Association of Korean population. (Yonhap)
However, he said it remains to be seen how many will promote birth policy in South Korea to be.
Kang said she felt relieved that her county 10 million victory in incentives for the promotion of birth.
Kang view is echoed Lee Su-min who is entitled to receive 47 million won from Southeast Changnyeong county and central government in the next five years for her fourth baby.
"Financial incentives are to help my family, and my husband is the only breadwinner," Lee said by telephone from Changnyeong.
Southern South Korean island of Wando also offers 5 million won as a lump sum and a further 15 million won in installments over three years for those who have a fifth baby. So far, there is only one recipient, but declined to be interviewed, citing privacy. However, not all agree with the policy of promotion of birth.
A recent survey of 1,000 singles found that 22.5 percent of a woman, he said that would not have any babies after marriage, according to a matchmaking company Duo Seoul. More than a quarter of respondents say that it is difficult to balance work and family is a key reason for the low birth rate.
The low birthrate has sounded the alarm. Last year, the number of South Korea over 65 has reached more than 6.76 million, accounting for 13.2 percent of the population in the country, according to the Statistics Office. The nation becomes "aged society" if people over 65 make up 14 per cent and more.
Statistics Korea said people aged over 65 can reach more than 12.9 million, or 24.5 percent of the population, by 2030.
Experts have expressed concerns that the aging population, combined with a low birth rate, represent a serious threat to Asia's fourth largest economy, as it could lead to fewer working people and increased spending on health and welfare.
Fitch Ratings Inc. said South Korea's aging population as one of the risks faced by South Korea, Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol said in August after meeting with a delegation from the International credit rating agencies.
Lee said the government should continue effective policies in a consistent way to combat low birth rate, pointing to an aging population is an issue that is harder than the growing debt of the household or increase the rate of the United States.
"Financial incentives, if spread across the country, could help raise South Korea's birth rate," said Kang.
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