South Korea is now focusing on elderly homes as its childcare centers are decreasing. The country's childcare facilities declined by almost a quarter in the past few years.
This shows that the childcare campaign of the SoKor government is not really that effective.
South Korea Starts Focusing on Elderly Homes
Inter-Korean family reunion participants prepare to depart for North Korea from a hotel resort in Sokcho on August 20, 2018. - Dozens of elderly and frail South Koreans set off for North Korea on August 20 to meet relatives for the first time since they were separated nearly seven decades ago by a war that divided the peninsula and their families.
According to CNN World's latest report, South Korea couldn't encourage its residents to have more babies. Because of this, SoKor became one of the countries with the lowest birthrate and fastest aging populations.
South Korea's birthrate has been decreasing ever since 2015. Although officials made drastic efforts, such as offering housing subsidies and financial incentives, South Koreans can still not have more babies.
In 2017, South Korea had over 40,000 childcare centers. However, government officials announced on Friday, June 30, that this number creased by 30,900 in 2022.
While childcare facilities are declining, elderly homes are increasing in numbers. In 2017, there were more than 76,000 elderly facilities. This number increased by over 89,000 in 2022, which includes specialized hospitals, welfare agencies, and senior care homes.
Experts stated that numerous factors could cause Japan's worsening birthrate problem. These include demanding work cultures, economic inflation, financial burdens of raising children, and stagnating salaries.
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Japan's Birthrate Also Declines
Moon Pil-Ki (R), a former World War II South Korean comfort woman, attends a protest in front of the Japanese Embassy March 13, 2002 during the 500th weekly anti-Japan rally in Seoul, South Korea. Comfort women were forced to entertain Japanese soldiers during World War II. The group demand full compensation and an official apology from the Japanese government.
The group demanded full compensation and an official apology from the Japanese government. South Korea is one of many countries facing an aging population. Korean Times reported that Japan is also encouraging its residents to have more children.
Previously, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida unveiled a package of childcare measures to reverse the country's decreasing birthrate.
"Now is the last chance to reverse the downtrend in childbirth by the early 2030s," said Kishida during a recent press conference.
"The low birthrate is a massive problem that concerns our country's society and entire economy and can't be put off," he added.
As of press time, Japan is still waiting for the new childcare efforts to take effect. But only time will tell if the Japanese nation will fail to solve its birthrate issue. If you want to learn more about the aging popularity of Japan, you can click this link.
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