A new trend is sweeping Korea. Could it come to America? Korean families are getting smaller and smaller. To fill the ‘family’ gap, people own pets like dogs and cats. As the cities of Korea are crowded, pet owners respond by using strollers to walk their pets.
Lower Fertility?
South Korea has been experiencing lower birth rates for ten years and is now the country with the lowest birth rate. What does this mean? A country needs a minimum of 2.1 births per woman to maintain its current population [1]. Currently, Korea has a 0.71 birth rate. As Korea’s birth rate is much lower, the country will have a smaller workforce, fewer people to care for the elderly and a smaller overall population.
Why?
Many factors contributed to this, including soaring housing costs, an oversaturated job market, and plummeting marriage rates. Young people want a place of their own before starting a family. With housing expenses so extravagant, many live with their parents, forfeiting the idea of marriage and family. The government offers incentives for parental leave. However, people need something more tangible to cover costs.
The Korean government discourages nonmarital fertility. However, it also discourages marriage and prefers women in the workplace. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol leads the way as he is married without children. According to one news source, he owns at least ten dogs and cats.
Replacement
Because of no children or marriages, people turn to pets to fill the ‘family’ vacuum. Gmarket, a South Korean online marketer, sells more dog strollers than baby strollers.
As businesses and propaganda promote childlessness in America, one can watch and wonder if we, too, will be buying more pet strollers than baby strollers in the upcoming years.
Notes:
- ^ {South Korea has the world’s lowest fertility rate, a struggle with lessons for us all} (go back ↩)
