[ti:Researchers: South Korea's Birth Rate Increase Last Year Unclear]
[al:As It Is]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2025-03-13]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]In 2024, the number of babies born in South Korea increased for the first time in nine years.
[00:11.35]The change is welcome news for a country that is dealing with serious population problems.
[00:19.50]South Korea's statistics agency said recently that 238,300 babies were born last year, an increase of 8,300 from a year earlier.
[00:37.52]The agency said the country's fertility rate - the average number of babies born to each woman in her reproductive years - was 0.75 in 2024, up from 0.72 in 2023.
[00:58.26]The data represents the first time that the yearly number of births has increased since 2015.
[01:07.84]Choi Yoon Kyung is an expert with the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education.
[01:15.12]Choi told the Associated Press that researchers must wait for more data over the next few years to see if increased births were driven by "structural changes."
[01:30.74]Park Hyun Jung is with the government agency Statistics Korea.
[01:37.36]Park said the agency believes the rise is partly due to an increase in marriages following postponements of such plans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
[01:51.64]Park said another reason for the increase is that a growing number of people entered their early 30s.
[02:01.04]She also noted a government study that shows a small increase in the number of young people hoping to have children after marriage.
[02:12.80]Official data show South Korea's fertility rate has been the lowest in the developed world in recent years. 
[02:22.28]In 2022, South Korea was the only country with a fertility rate below one, among members of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
[02:39.36]The low fertility rate could threaten South Korea's economic health. 
[02:45.23]The country, Asia's fourth largest economy, could face labor shortages and greater spending on public assistance programs. 
[02:56.80]South Korea's central and local governments have been increasingly offering several support programs to those who give birth to children.
[03:07.97]But experts say that it will be difficult to solve the country's population problems. Many young people say they do not want to have babies. 
[03:20.72]Their reasons include costly housing, low levels of upward social movement, the high costs of raising and educating children, and a culture that requires women to do more of the childcare.
[03:38.42]Park said that the fertility rate will likely stay on an upward movement at least for another year. 
[03:47.59]But observers say it remains to be seen whether the rate will go back down as post-pandemic marriages even out. 
[03:57.88]The country's population structure will also change, with a drop in the number of people in their early 30s.
[04:07.95]Some experts argue that the government should pay more attention to supporting young couples who want to have babies.
[04:17.24]"There are still people with solid wills to have a family and babies. 
[04:22.78]When we help them realize their hopes, our fertility rate won't suffer a steep, 45-degree drop," Choi said.
[04:33.21]I'm John Russell.