Alarm over S. Korea's low birth rate

Straits Times ^ | By Caroline Gluck

[cookcounty]

"The place with the lowest fertility is not a country, but has certain autonomous features."

Could it be Gitmo?---Guantanamo Bay, in Liberated Cuba?

[Torie]

LOL. I think the place has a shortage of woman. But then again, perhaps they are all continuously pregnant as a result. Gitmo is not autonomous at all actually. Guam is actually, as is Puerto Rico, and listed, but neither are the place.

[Loyalist]

The Holy See almost certainly has the lowest birthrate of any independent nation. And we'd hope so, too, since it has virtually no lay citizens.

[cookcounty]

...lowest fertility rate....

...Oh, I'll bet it's the Greek Island of Lesbos. They're pretty autonomous, right?

[Torie]

Ya, but it isn't on the UN list. I think its population is around 300 or something.

[Torie]

No comment. :)

[Loyalist]

How about the monasteries on Mount Athos in Greece, where women are forbidden from even entering?

[Torie]

By the way, it isn't Fire Island in NY either.

[cookcounty]

...Macau?

[Cdnexpat]

You have found the answer, it is incredibly expensive to raise children in the ROK. It is not unusual for parents to budget 40 or 50% of their take home pay for their children's education, the largest part of this going to hogwans (private institutions) or tutors that prepare their children for the multitude of placement tests that determine a students educational future.
Families are also having children later in life than they were before, so naturally they have less time for children.
There is also a strong preference for sons, (the reasons or many and cultural and I don't want to get side tracked) so many families will only have one child if their first child is a son. Many parents who have a daughter will have another child late in life in an effort to have a son.
The divorce rate is rising so many mothers who would have tried for the second child later in life do not because they are now single.
The exodus from the country side in driven by women and children. On average women much prefer city life to farm life, in fact many farmers are marrying Philippino or Chinese women and bringing them to Korea, because they cannot find Korean women who want to live in rural areas. If you want your child to have a chance to get into the best universities, Seoul National, Yonsei, Ewha etc they need access to the best institutes and private tutors these, of course, are found in the big cities.
These are the largest reasons for Koreas declining birth rate and the move from rural to urban areas.

[Torie]

Oh, warm. Very warm.

[cookcounty]

"...... I think its population is around 300 or something......

So basically, it's a place where nobody gives birth.....Hmmm.

[Black Agnes]

ping.

[cookcounty]

Quemoy? or Matsu? Inhabited only by Taiwanese soldiers.

[Torie]

They are as much a part of Taiwan as Santa Catalina is to the US.

[cookcounty]

I know...it's the Spratleys. Sailors, but no bars.

[Torie]

Nope, and it ain't Midway Island either.

[Torie]

You haven't even tried to name the real countries with the lowest fertility rates either, nor the grouping of countries with something in common with the lowest fertility rates on this globe overall. Don't you want to play?

[cookcounty]

My last shot---Diego Garcia.

[Torie]

Sad, and you were so close with Macao, which is actually on the list, and a real contender.