Dear MEL Topic Readers,
South Korea records world's lowest fertility rate again
The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime. The total fertility rate needed to maintain the population is around 2.1 per woman, and the world’s average is around 2.4. South Korea, whose population now is a little over 50 million, is facing a rapid population decline as the nation’s fertility rate has been the lowest in the world for the last several years. In fact, the fertility rate in 2021 fell again to 0.81 from 0.84 the previous year, keeping the rate under 1.0 for four straight years. There were only about 260,000 newborns last year, a sharp drop from one million in the 1970s, and a little over 400,000 in 2018. The population decline began in 2020 as the number of deaths outpaced that of newborns. An earthquake-like demographic shock from a decline in population and rapid aging is predicted to start in the 2030s. Why don’t the people in the developed country produce offspring? Analysts say high economic inequality, cost of living especially in Seoul, lack of stable job opportunities, education costs, and housing costs are to blame. But there also seem to be social inequalities for women at home and at work. As a result, young women, especially those who are educated, choose not to get married.
Read the article and learn about how serious South Korea’s fertility rate decline is.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62670717
South Korea records world's lowest fertility rate again
The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime. The total fertility rate needed to maintain the population is around 2.1 per woman, and the world’s average is around 2.4. South Korea, whose population now is a little over 50 million, is facing a rapid population decline as the nation’s fertility rate has been the lowest in the world for the last several years. In fact, the fertility rate in 2021 fell again to 0.81 from 0.84 the previous year, keeping the rate under 1.0 for four straight years. There were only about 260,000 newborns last year, a sharp drop from one million in the 1970s, and a little over 400,000 in 2018. The population decline began in 2020 as the number of deaths outpaced that of newborns. An earthquake-like demographic shock from a decline in population and rapid aging is predicted to start in the 2030s. Why don’t the people in the developed country produce offspring? Analysts say high economic inequality, cost of living especially in Seoul, lack of stable job opportunities, education costs, and housing costs are to blame. But there also seem to be social inequalities for women at home and at work. As a result, young women, especially those who are educated, choose not to get married.
Read the article and learn about how serious South Korea’s fertility rate decline is.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62670717
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