Can the rich world escape its baby crisis?
Can the rich world escape its baby crisis?
Three decades ago, when women now entering their 40s became fertile, East Asian governments had reason to celebrate. If a South Korean woman behaved in the same way as her older compatriots, she would emerge from her childbearing years with 1.7 offspring on average, down from 4.5 in 1970. Across the region, policymakers had brought down teenage pregnancies dramatically. The drop in birth rates, which occured over the span of a single generation, was a stunning success. That was until it carried on. And on.
A South Korean woman who is now becoming fertile will have on average just 0.7 children over her childbearing years if she follows the example of her older peers. Since 2006 the country’s government has spent $270bn, or just over 1% of GDP a year, on babymaking incentives such as tax breaks for parents, maternity care and even state-sponsored dating. Officials would love even just a few of the “missing” births back.
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