South Korea's Births Are Up For Two Years: Is It Reversing Its Population Crisis? | Insight

Summary

South Korea has recorded a modest rise in births after years of decline. The programme cites an increase of nearly 4% in 2024 and 7% in 2025, following a record-low fertility rate of about 0.72 in 2023. The speakers welcome the change but caution that two years of growth do not yet demonstrate that the country’s population crisis is reversing.

Several factors may be contributing to the increase. Marriages postponed during the pandemic resumed, with marriages rising sharply in 2024 and continuing to increase afterward. The large generation of women born in the 1980s and early 1990s has also reached its main childbearing years, which may support birth numbers for a time. However, the number of women of childbearing age is shrinking, so even a small increase in births or fertility could make the rebound look larger than it is.

Government and local support can ease some costs. The programme describes childbirth payments, allowances, postpartum-care assistance, childcare services, and workplace measures such as reduced hours and parental leave. Parents interviewed said this support helped, but generally did not determine whether they would have children.

The programme argues that benefits around pregnancy and birth are not enough on their own. People also need reliable childcare, family-friendly workplaces, and a better balance between work and home life. Support is especially uneven between large companies and small and medium-sized businesses.

There are signs of greater paternal involvement. Fathers’ reported time caring for children has increased, and some initiatives encourage men to share childcare. However, parents describe childcare as time-consuming and say mothers still carry a disproportionate share. More equal sharing, the programme suggests, is important to making parenthood manageable.

The rebound is also socially uneven. Births are increasingly concentrated among financially secure, highly educated or professional couples, particularly those with stable jobs and access to housing. One expert characterizes this as an “aristocracy of childbirth”: people who can afford to have children are more likely to do so, while many others remain unable or unwilling.

High housing costs, insecure employment, intense competition, education pressures, and the personal freedoms people feel they would give up continue to weigh on decisions. Some interviewees describe changing attitudes, including growing interest in marriage and larger families. Others question whether they want children to grow up in a society of intense academic and social competition. The programme emphasizes that individual preferences matter alongside economic and structural conditions.

Overall, speakers see the rise as hopeful but fragile. Sustaining it will require broader improvements to work and family life, not only temporary incentives. South Korea must also prepare for population ageing and a shrinking workforce; the programme notes that people aged 65 and over are expected to make up about 30% of the population by 2035.

Policy changes include expanded child support, efforts to attract skilled foreign workers, and an updated population strategy framework. One contributor also questions whether a smaller Korean population must automatically be seen as a crisis if Korean culture and lifestyles continue to reach more people globally.

Presenters and Contributors

• Presenter: Not identified by name in the subtitles.
• Contributors: Demographers and other experts; public officials involved in low-birth-rate policy; parents and couples; fathers discussing childcare; childcare and postpartum-care providers; and employees discussing workplace support. Their names are not identifiable in the subtitles.