Chart of the week: South Korea’s disappearing children

South Korea's fertility rate is the world’s lowest at 1.05, a far cry from the 2.1 required to keep the population stable.

903_COTW

South Korea is running out of babies, says The Economist. The fertility rate, gauging how many children the average woman will have over her lifetime, is the world's lowest at 1.05, a far cry from the 2.1 required to keep the population stable. Women, who are better educated than men and increasingly eager to carve out a career, face pervasive discrimination at work and are loath to drop out of a job to start a family in case they can't return. Having children outside marriage, meanwhile, is still frowned upon. This is bad news for future growth and the "strained pension system". Improved childcare will help, but it won't be enough to solve the problem while immigration "remains a touchy subject".

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up