Over half of young women willing to give birth: survey

• Published date: 07 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

Over half of young women in Korea said they are willing to give birth, a government survey showed Tuesday, as the nation is struggling to boost the world's lowest fertility rate.

According to the survey of 15,000 young people aged 19 to 34, 55.3 percent of female respondents said they intend to have children, the Office for Government Policy Coordination said in a statement.

In comparison, 70.5 percent of male respondents said they are willing to have children.

The survey was reported to President Yoon Suk Yeol at a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day.

Last year, the country's total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime, hit another record low of 0.78, much lower than the replacement level of 2.1 that would keep Korea's population stable at 51.5 million.

The survey found that the average annual income of young people stood at 21.62 million won ($16,225) and their average...