The woman appointed to try to reverse the world’s lowest birth rates knows better than most why billion-dollar campaigns to encourage South Korea’s female
SEOUL – The woman appointed to try to reverse the world’s lowest birth rates knows better than most why billion-dollar campaigns to encourage South Korea’s female populace to procreate have failed — she is among the millions who have chosen to remain childless in the face of traditionalist social expectations.
A history professor at a Seoul University before joining the government, family minister Chung Hyun-back says she remained single to pursue her professional ambitions.
Entrenched gender roles at home and a workaholic culture are pushing the next generation of South Korean women to follow suit, warned the 64-year-old.
“It was extremely difficult — if not impossible — to juggle an academic career while getting married and raising children,” she explained, pointing out that many female professors in their 50s and 60s are single.
Rapid economic growth over several decades has seen South Korea’s GDP boom, but birth rates have gone in the opposite direction.
The country’s fertility rate — an average number of babies women are expected to have in their lifetime — stood at 1.17 in 2016, the lowest in the world and compared to a global average of 2.4.
It is set to fall to a record low of 1.07 for 2017 after the number of newborns sank below 400,000 for the first time.
The trend, coupled with the rapid aging of its 50-million populace, casts a pall over the nation’s future — its population is projected to start shrinking in 2050.
Experts blame sky-high housing prices, the costs of raising children, and fears over unemployment.
But Chung said: “For years, we have overlooked the real culprit of the problem — our country’s vast gender disparity and inhumanely long working hours.”
South Korea has the second-highest average working hours in the OECD but women are still expected to be children’s primary caregiver, whether they work or not.
Many firms prefer to drive pregnant staff to resign rather than pay for maternity leave, and those who return to work are seen as having damaged their career prospects.
