Dr Oh Eun Young Explains Why South Korea Suffers From Low Birth Rate Korean Netizens React 오은영 박사

Dr Oh Eun Young Explains Why South Korea Suffers From Low Birth Rate Korean Netizens React 오은영 박사
#DrOhEunYoung #birthrate #netizens

Dr. Oh Eun Young shares why South Korea suffers from such low birth-rates

Currently, South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world. Due to the high cost of living, more and more people are choosing not to get married. For the first time in South Korea's history, there were more deaths than births in 2020, making it a country with a "shrinking population."

South Koreans are opting out of having children as inflation rates get out of control, and the birth rate is far from recovering.

A South Korean psychiatrist, Dr. Oh Eun Young, recently discussed the reasons why young South Koreans want to avoid having children.

She explained, "In order to understand this a bit better, I'm going to use phrases that are used in economics. I'm not an economics expert, but I'm using these words for better understanding." She continued to explain, "In a family-oriented agricultural society, children were the productive goods (That would help work on the farm and around the household).

But now, for the current generation, these children are more like consumer goods. They have to constantly receive support for a lot of things. And young adults these days see that they are like this - needing constant care from their parents."

According to Dr. Oh Eun Young, it has become much more difficult for people to become independent these days, given the high requirements in society in addition to increasing living expenses. Therefore, children are no longer components that are productive to the parents, but they have become a component that consumes (time, money, energy, etc.).

She explained the younger generations themselves can see that even when they're at an age of becoming independent, they still need support from their parents and need constant care, so the idea of children has become "an entity that needs constant care."

A lot of Korean netizens agreed, stating that Korean society has become so competitive that another life form cannot be cared for. One netizen explained, "I completely agree with the phrase, 'I need a breather after studying competitively, then getting a job.

But when you raise a child, you need to care for the child for the rest of your life but you need some time for yourself in your life." Another netizen wrote, "I totally agree...I myself am still leeching off my parents...I understand. Also if I have a kid now, I would continue to need to leech off my parents and get help from them...I don't want to keep doing that..."

Other netizens pointed out the high stress that exists in South Korean society. A netizen wrote, "It's because there's so much stress in South Korean society. The first thing even animals give up when they are under high stress is child-rearing. Koreans are stressed even at a young age, studying without sleep, competing to get a good job, and they have financial stress. So what would they give up first?"

Korean netizens also commented, "I totally agree, I still need my parent's care at this age so I am not confident to raise a child of my own," "I also can't guarantee that I can give my child as much care as my parents gave me," "I don't think I can financially support a child," "I love how Dr. Oh Eun Young explains so clearly," and "What she says is so true, children aren't seen as 'productive' anymore but are seen as 'consumers.'"