Government support for pregnancy and childbirth were met with low positive responses. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — Roughly two-thirds of single South Korean women believe that government policy in place to encourage giving birth to children falls short of influencing decisions on marriage and childbirth.
Gayeon Matchmaking Consulting Service conducted a survey of 1,000 single men and women, 65 percent of whom believed that government policy to tackle low birthrate is less than effective.
Among small business owners, the percentage rose to 74.4 percent, demonstrating even lower expectations for government policy.
As for the government support seen as most helpful by the respondents, 38.9 percent picked permanent housing, while 31 percent chose renting support for newlyweds.
Among those who picked permanent housing, 46.3 percent were in their 30s, and 49 percent were from the Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungcheong areas.
In contrast, government support for pregnancy and childbirth were met with low positive responses.
Only 4.1 percent thought the celebratory allowance for childbirth was helpful, while those who thought financial support for postnatal care was helpful comprised only 3 percent of all respondents.
Asked to choose the two best policies out of six major government initiatives on marriage and childbirth, respondents chose public housing support for newlyweds (66.1 percent) and housing loans for newlyweds (52.5 percent).
Other choices included celebratory allowance for childbirth (23.4 percent), financial support for subfertility treatment and pregnancy (18.7 percent), and health examination and blood test support for newlyweds (10.1 percent).
“Government policies to encourage childbirth are failing to work as a determining factor for single adults to decide upon marriage,” said an official at Gayeon.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
