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This is a hugely important story, with massive implications for society in Korea, but it will probably fly under the radar for most people. #Demographic change to the population is one of Korea's largest problems going forward. https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/01/03/national/socialAffairs/population-decline-korea-aging-society/20210103165800619.html
Let me explain a little:
Korea's population is already quite old (the average age at death is one of the highest in the world), and the birthrate is one of the lowest in the world. This means that there are many old people (and many who will survive until quite old) and few
Korea's population is already quite old (the average age at death is one of the highest in the world), and the birthrate is one of the lowest in the world. This means that there are many old people (and many who will survive until quite old) and few
young people being born.
An economy needs young people to work their way up, gaining experience needed to run things. (And also accepting lower wages when they are young).
AND those young people's taxes can end up in pensions for the elderly (which are TERRIBLE in Korea, but
An economy needs young people to work their way up, gaining experience needed to run things. (And also accepting lower wages when they are young).
AND those young people's taxes can end up in pensions for the elderly (which are TERRIBLE in Korea, but
that's a different topic).
So this statistic says "fewer people were born than died this year, for the first time." Maybe next year we'll have a pandemic baby boom, but eventually it will be normal for Korea to lose population each year, b/c births have been slowing for years
So this statistic says "fewer people were born than died this year, for the first time." Maybe next year we'll have a pandemic baby boom, but eventually it will be normal for Korea to lose population each year, b/c births have been slowing for years
But it's normal now to have 1 kid, not 2.
Unless life gets cheaper in Korea, as the current kids grow up, they also will feel the economic reasons why having 1 kid (at most) is smarter than 2 (even if they emotionally WANT 2 or more), and the problem will continue.
Unless life gets cheaper in Korea, as the current kids grow up, they also will feel the economic reasons why having 1 kid (at most) is smarter than 2 (even if they emotionally WANT 2 or more), and the problem will continue.
Korean politicians are concerned, but it's the future's problem (like global warming), not the problem of today, so they say a lot of stuff, but the only things they actually do are things like trying to make more preschools free, or trying to regulate hagwons, or seats for women
on the subway, which are not enough to fix the problem, which is partially linked to the problems in real estate (go check out @BluRoofPolitics for some good links on the big problem that is real estate in Korea...
*seats for pregnant women on the subway
If you want to invest in a growth industry inside of Korea, try to invest in something that serves an elderly population.
