They expect the US to have a new population growth boost in the second half of the 2020s?
World Demographics
- Thread starter Lethe
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Subsidy program added 3,070 births in one year
Taipei, July 27 (CNA) A subsidy program targeting couples suffering from infertility has resulted in the births of 3,070 babies one year after the government increased the program's funding, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said Wednesday.
Former health minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) had initially approved a plan to increase the subsidies to about NT$600 million (US$20 million) a year, but Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) ordered this to be further increased to NT$3 billion a year, Health and Welfare Minister Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) said at a news conference in Taipei held to mark the first anniversary of the program's expansion.
In addition, 2,733 couples who have benefitted from the expanded program had given birth to 3,070 babies as of Monday, he said, adding that at this rate, more than 10,000 babies will be born by the end of this year under the program.
Hmm, it seems like government policies and funding can actually have an effect. This is a small program as it only targets the small minority of couples who are suffering from infertility issues AND have trouble affording treatment. However, it is already having a significant impact as 10,000 births would be a large number for Taiwan. And Taiwan is an East Asian society where fertility issues are the worst.
Korea to Triple Baby Payments After It Smashes Own Record for World’s Lowest Fertility Rate
South Korea plans to provide every family with a newborn child a monthly allowance of 1 million won ($740), in its latest move to encourage more births and try to address the world’s lowest fertility rate.The handout will begin next year at a level of 700,000 won a month and then rise to the full amount in 2024, according to a unveiled this week. Once the child turns one, the stipend will be reduced by half and run for a further year.
Dubbed locally as “parent pay,” the 1 million-won allowance was among a series of election campaign pledges by President Yoon Suk Yeol to address Korea’s low birth rate. Yoon, who took office in May, has described the demographic outlook as a national “calamity.”
1 million won a month is a significant amount, but running for only one year and at half-rate for a further year is a bit of a joke. This amounts to a one-time payment of the equivalent of $13,320, whereas the cost to raise a child in South Korea to age 21 was $263,400 a decade ago (. It has probably grown since then.
Not that this entire cost has to be paid to make a significant effect on the birth rate, but at least running payments until age 18, plus university subsidies, would be required. That said, this policy is a step in the right direction, given the existential threat faced by South Korea. Childbearing decisions are all marginal at the end of the day, and even a little money will make the difference for some parents.
