South Korea: Consideration of giving two crore rupees for every child born

South Korea is considering paying parents 100 million Korean won (73,000 US dollars or 20 million Pakistani rupees) in cash for each child born to raise the birth rate.

The South Korean government’s Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission is conducting a public survey to gauge public opinion before implementing it.

The survey, which will begin on April 17, will ask four questions and try to find out if they think it is acceptable to spend 220 trillion won ($16 billion) a year on the program and whether financial incentives will help the country. I would be attracted to couples having children.

This amount is about half of the current national budget allocated to measures to combat low birth rates, which is 480 trillion won annually.

In a statement, the commission said, ‘We intend to re-evaluate the country’s fertility policies through this survey to determine whether direct financial concessions can be an effective solution. .

South Korea’s government and policymakers are scrambling to find new and innovative measures to address the crisis of declining birthrates. In 2023, the country’s birth rate fell to 0.72 children per woman, the lowest national birth rate.

A number of factors are thought to be the cause of the country’s demographic crisis, but the main reason is thought to be Korean couples’ frustration with the rising costs and declining standard of daily living.

Under a government scheme to encourage parenthood, Korean couples receive between 35 million won (£20,566) and 50 million won (£20,566) through various incentive and support programs from the time their child is born until they reach the age of seven. 29,380 pounds)

The move comes as the head of a South Korean firm offered employees up to £59,000 to help them have children and boost the country’s birth rate.

The Boeing Group, a Seoul-based construction firm, plans to pay its employees 100 million Korean won each time they have children.

The company also said it will pay out a total of seven billion Korean won (4.2 million pounds) in cash to employees who have given birth to 70 babies between now and 2021. A company spokesperson said that it can be used by men and women.