South Korea’s fertility rate falls to a record low

FOR MUCH of its history, South Korea worried about having too many babies. In the 1960s and 1970s the government set targets for family size. South Koreans were told that “even two are a lot”. Sterilisation was subsidised. Today the country has the opposite problem. In 2006 the government set a goal of raising the total fertility rate—a measure of births per woman—from 1.2 to 1.6 by boosting child-care subsidies and cutting taxes for families. Yet instead of rising, the figure tumbled even lower. On August 28th new data showed that the fertility rate fell to 0.98 in 2018, from 1.05 in 2017. South Koreans are having fewer babies than ever.

In many ways, the country is a victim of its own success. The characteristics that correlate most strongly with small family size include income (see chart) and education. On these measures, South Korea has performed better than almost any country in the world. The country’s rapid economic growth from the 1960s to the mid-1990s is considered an economic miracle. Today 70% of young South Koreans have a university degree, compared with 45% across the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries.