Newlyweds say average monthly child care costs exceed 1.4 mil. won
Newly married couples without children often anticipate spending over 1 million won ($751) monthly per child once they start a family, with the average monthly child care costs estimated at 1.4 million won, a poll showed, Monday.
According to a survey conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA), 37 percent of newlyweds said that the monthly cost of raising a child will be between 1 million won and 1.5 million won.
Moreover, 29 percent anticipated the costs to surpass 2 million won, while 18.7 percent expected expenses to range between 1.5 million won and 2 million won. Only 15.3 percent believed that the cost would be lower than 1 million won.
The survey interviewed 300 childless households who had been married less than five years from May 30 to June 8 last year.
These anticipated child-rearing expenses were found to be higher for households with higher incomes. For example, households with a monthly income exceeding 8 million won said it would cost 1.58
million won, while those with an income below 4 million won said it would cost 1.3 million won.
Asked about how much of a burden child-rearing expenses would be on their households, 93.7 percent said it would be burdensome, with 58.7 percent saying that it would be somewhat burdensome and 35 percent saying that it would be very burdensome.
The survey also revealed that newlyweds believe the current child allowance provided by the government had a slightly positive impact on reducing the burden but had little to do with advancing the timing at which couples chose to have children.
Recently, Korea’s birthrate hit a quarterly low of 0.65 in the fourth quarter of 2023, exacerbating the country’s demographic challenges of rapid aging and a declining birthrate. The total fertility rate for 2023 dropped to 0.72 from 0.78 the previous year.
Jung Jae-hoon, a professor of social welfare at Seoul Women’s University, criticized the focus on cash-centric support policies, saying they were not enough to address the issue of cost burdens and were ineffective in the long run.
He pointed out that the subsidies are absurdly small in meeting the needs of the middle class. Even if groundbreaking support may satisfy the needs of low-income earners, a long-term approach is essential to create an environment conducive to children’s growth, including education and medical facilities.
“The causes of the recent low birthrate are complicated. While implementing cash support policies, strategies to create an environment where children can be raised should also be considered,” Jung said.