How to fix South Korea's birthrate? Thinktank suggests girls be put in schools earlier

A state-backed think tank in South Korea set the cat among the pigeons after suggesting that girls be put in primary schools a year earlier than boys to fix the country's poor birthrate. Earlier this week, authors at the Korea Institute of Public Finance published a report claiming creating a one-year gap between boys and girls would make them more desirable to each other by the time they reach the marriageable age. This logic is based on a theory that men mature at a slower pace than girls and thus girls prefer to marry older men. After the report came out, several South Korean experts condemned the report, with one professor terming it 'ridiculous.'

'The suggestion'

The report, which focused on tackling South Korea's falling birthrate, said, "Considering that the developmental level of men is slower than that of women, having females enter school one year earlier could potentially contribute to men and women finding each other more attractive when they reach the appropriate age for marriage.”

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“If there is a willingness to marry, then a willingness to date can certainly be assumed. However, that does not necessarily lead to successful dating. To improve this, policies that could be included in this category are those that arrange meetups, improve social skills, and support self-development to boost one’s attractiveness to the opposite sex,” it added.

Pushback

The report was immediately criticised by social media users as well as academic experts. Shin Gyeong-a, a sociology professor at Hallym University, was quoted as saying by Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper: “That such a report, without any screening, was published in a democratic country – by a state-run research institute that will evaluate measures to address low birthrates in the future, no less – is ridiculous.”

Opposition leader Lee Jae-Myung called the suggestion 'absurd,' saying, "We need to take fundamental and macro-level measures [against the low birthrate].”

Users online pointed out how the government needs to focus on policies that favour raising children to improve the birthrate in the country. “We need to take fundamental and macro-level measures [against the low birthrate],” one user said. “Are they really looking at people, at children, as reproductive tools? Disgusting,” another commented.

Responding to the criticism, the Korea Institute of Public Finance clarified the report carried the views of one author and not the institute itself.

With 0.72 children born per woman, South Korea has the lowest birthrate globally. The rate is considerably lower in Seoul, the nation's capital, where officials predict that the population in the city would drastically drop from 9.4 million in 2022 to 7.9 million in 2052 if the trend continues.

(With inputs from agencies)