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Over 4,000 schools shut down nationwide as student numbers plunge - The Korea Times
(www.koreatimes.co.kr)
this post was submitted on 29 Dec 2025
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Japan was the first to have a fertility crisis, but they've slowed the issue a lot. Spain and Italy, for example, now have a lower fertility rate than Japan
I find fertility rate to be such a fascinating topic, because there is no simple explanation, although many people will suggest simple explanations
I've heard it's because of the cost of housing, but Japan fixed their housing crisis decades ago, and South Korea never had much of one, at least not compared to Canada, New Zealand, or the US
I've heard it's about how women are treated culturally, but then why would the fertility rate in places like Norway and Finland be dropping so dramatically?
And I've heard it's a reaction to dystopic late-stage capitalism, but then why is the fertility rate dropping so rapidly in North Korea?
The general explanation of difficult economic conditions doesn't seem to hold up when you look at a place like the Korean peninsula. There was a great famine in North Korea during the '90s - the arduous march - where millions died in only a couple years. The fertility rate remained far higher during that than it is now. South Korea had far worse economic conditions than it has now, but had a far higher fertility rate
My hypothesis is that it's related to some form of pollution. Obviously there are many contributing factors, but it's interesting to me that the lowest birth rates are all in countries around major manufacturing; especially technology manufacturing. South Korea, Taiwan, and China all have the lowest birth rates in the world. Many European countries like Spain and Italy aren't far behind. Both areas have the highest concentration of high-tech manufacturing
It's really simple: kids are a chore. Once you remove the economic and social pressure to have kids most people will opt out of the experience and do more interesting things instead. In developing countries economic pressure exists (kids support parents when they are old) but in developed countries only social pressure is left. Once it becomes socially acceptable not to have kids people just stop. In some countries like France kids are still a status symbol so people try to have 2 kids. In other countries kids are used mostly for socializing: when all your friends become parents it's hard to hang out with them without kids because all gatherings become kid parties. Most couple have one kid because that's enough to be included. But as more people don't have kids it's easier to find friends without kids to do things together and another motivation is gone. There was also a pretty big shift in how people approach childless couples. Asking "when will you have kids" is becoming a faux pas because people are more aware of fertility issues so another source of social pressure is gone. The truth is that even in perfect financial situation few people will have more then 2 kids (just look at the stats). In less than perfect situation people decide to have 1 or 0.
The kinds of fixes that could work are the kind that would be expensive and beneficial to workers, which is why it's not done. The police angle doesn't make much sense because it's not like it's caused by people who are trying and failing to have kids, except for people who only start in the 40s because that's how long it takes to become an economically self-sufficient enough to do so. Any government that wants to replace needs to make having a family-sized home and a decent work life balance readily achievable to any 25-year-old
Possibly some form of 100th monkey effect? Except instead of skill sharing, it’s more emotion based? Most of the world seems to be in a sort of despair, when there is so much despair, maybe it spreads like wildfire whether you realize it or not?