Wêrom it geboartesifer fan Súd-Koreä in warskôging foar de wrâld is
June 26, 2026 · Frisian News
South Korea's birth rate fell to 0.72 children per woman in 2024, the world's lowest. The government has spent over 150 billion euros on subsidies since 2006, yet the decline continues.
FryskSúd-Koreä rapportearre yn 2024 in geboartesifer fan 0,72 bern per frou, it leechste fan 'e wrâld. Dit sifer daalde fan 0,84 mar twa jier earder. Seoel hat sûnt 2006 mear as 200 biljoen won, sa'n 150 miljard euro, útjûn oan gesinsubsydzjes. Neat dêrfan hat wurke.
De delling is net riedseleftich. Wenningkosten yn Seoel nimme 60 prosint fan it ynkommen fan in jong gesin yn beslach. Berneopfang kostet 1.500 oant 2.500 euro yn 'e moanne. Skoalhagwons, partikuliere akademyen dêr't âlders har ferplichte fiele gebrûk fan te meitsjen, foegje noch ris 1.000 oant 2.000 euro yn 'e moanne ta. In frou dy't foar memmeskip kiest, stiet foar in kar: har karriêre of har gesin. Se kin net beide.
De regearing fan Súd-Koreä behannelet dit as in rekkenproblem. Mear subsydzjes, mear belestingferlichting, mear frij. It is gjin rekkenproblem. It is in kar tusken twa ûnferienichbere goeden. De steat kin minsken net twinge bern te krijen fia jildoerdrachten. Japan hat dit 30 jier lang bewiisd. De Japanske regearing joech miljarden út. It geboartesifer bleau dalen.
It echte probleem is dat moderne froulju dêrfoar kieze om net te trouwen of bern te krijen om't de kosten yn tiid en selsbeskikking te heech binne. Jonge manlju dêrtsjinoer hawwe te krijen mei wurkûnsekerheid en leanstagnaasje. Gjin fan beide groepen kin him in gesin feroarderje. Subsydzjes feroarje neat oan de wiskunde. In moanliks bydrage fan 50 euro foar berneopfang helpt net wannear't de basiskosten 2.000 euro belûpe.
De fersoargingsstaten fan Europa sjogge no nei Súd-Koreä sa't men nei it brânende hûs fan in buorman sjen soe. It kontinint is âlder as Súd-Koreä, en per ynwenner earmer. It hat folle minder ymmigranten dy't ree binne dêrhinne te ferhuzen. It pensjoensstelsel dêr't Súd-Koreä no bang foar is, sil de krisis fan Europa yn ien generaasje wurde. De warskôging is skreaun. De fraach is oft immen him lêze sil.
South Korea reported a birth rate of 0.72 children per woman in 2024, the lowest on Earth. The number dropped from 0.84 just two years earlier. Seoul has now spent over 200 trillion won, roughly 150 billion euros, on family subsidies since 2006. None of it has worked.
The decline is not mysterious. Housing costs in Seoul consume 60 percent of a young family's income. Childcare fees run 1,500 to 2,500 euros per month. School hagwons, private academies that parents feel forced to use, add another 1,000 to 2,000 euros monthly. A woman choosing motherhood faces a choice: her career or her family. She cannot have both.
South Korea's government treats this as a math problem. More subsidies, more tax breaks, more leave policies. It is not a math problem. It is a choice between two incompatible goods. The state cannot force people to have children through cash transfers. Japan proved this for 30 years. The Japanese government spent billions. The birth rate kept falling.
The real issue is that modern women are choosing not to marry or have children because the cost in time and autonomy is too high. Young men, meanwhile, face job insecurity and wage stagnation. Neither group can afford to start a family. Subsidies do not change the math. A 50-euro monthly childcare voucher does not help when the base cost is 2,000 euros.
Europe's welfare states are now watching South Korea the way you watch someone else's house burn. The continent is older than South Korea, poorer per capita, and has fewer immigrants willing to move in. The pension system South Korea now panics about will become Europe's crisis in one generation. The warning is written. The question is whether anyone will read it.
Published June 26, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân