Government-Sponsored Dating Programs in South Korea
These are just some of the efforts being undertaken to try to encourage young people to marry and have kids.
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Government-sponsored dating programs. A $75,000 incentive for each new baby. These are just some of the efforts being undertaken by the public and private sectors in South Korea to try to encourage young adults to marry and have children.
A monumental task
South Korea is well advanced in a demographic implosion. Since the 1990s, the number of babies born per year has fallen 60%, from 600,000-700,000 per year to around 250,000. The country has the lowest fertility rate in the world, at about 0.75 children per woman.
Hand in hand with the decline in children is a collapse in marriages: the number of marriages per year fell 40% in just 10 years, from 2013 to 2023. And even more so than many Western countries, it is uncommon for couples in South Korea to have children outside of marriage.
The perceived need among young people to marry is bleak, according to the government’s annual reports. In 2022, only 33% of those ages 19-34 said they had positive views on getting married, down from 57% in 2012.
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The government gets generous with incentives
For more than two decades, the South Korean government has given incentives to promote marriage and childbearing, including subsidies for housing and childcare, along with cash payments. In recent years, however, dozens of local districts and even private companies are getting more aggressive.
In the Saha District of the city of Busan, matchmaking events are offered for singles. Participants apply and then attend events. For those who go on dates, each person is given about $350 in cash for dates. Couples that eventually marry after having met through a sponsored dating night can receive about $14,000, along with rental assistance for housing.
The country’s capital, Seoul, will begin giving couples nearly $700 if they register their marriage in the city.
On top of government initiatives, some private businesses are trying to help. Booyoung Group, a large construction company in South Korea, started a program to give employees $75,000 for each baby born. In 2024, the first year of the program, 28 babies were born to employees, five more than the annual average from 2021-2023 (the company has about 2,500 employees).
Is the trend possible to reverse?
In 2024, the number of marriages registered in South Korea surprisingly increased by 15%, the largest increase since data collection began in the 1970s. The number of babies born also increased slightly.
While the reversal was celebrated, time will tell if it’s a long-term trend. Some are skeptical, attributing the bump in 2024 to more people getting married after having simply delayed weddings during the pandemic. Further, critics point out that the largest segment of South Korea’s population is currently those entering their 30s, naturally providing a boost to marriage and birth rates.
The factors commonly cited for why young people aren’t getting married in South Korea include high costs of living and education, a strenuous and competitive work environment, and opposition to traditional gender roles. If financial strains are a primary reason for people not to marry and have kids, one could hypothesize that if the government increases its subsidies enough, marriage and birth rates will increase.
Question for you, the reader: What do you think it takes to reverse a falling birth rate? If you were in a position of leadership, what would you do to incentivize marriage and childrearing? (Let us know your thoughts on The News Memo Discord!)
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