Koreans do want children — but 1 in 2 say they can’t afford them
Published: 10 Jun. 2025, 18:05
![A nurse takes care of a newborn at the Korea University Guro Hospital in western Seoul on May 28. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/10/42e76189-de9b-4f25-b541-f4e98f5f1aac.jpg)
A nurse takes care of a newborn at the Korea University Guro Hospital in western Seoul on May 28. [NEWS1]
More people around the world are giving up on having children — not because they don’t want them, but because they simply can’t afford to raise them, a new United Nations report says.
Nowhere is that clearer than in Korea, where over half of those surveyed said they had abandoned or might give up plans for children due to financial constraints.
On Tuesday, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) released its 2025 State of World Population report, drawing on a survey of 14,000 adults across 14 countries, including Korea, the United States, Germany, Italy and Nigeria.
The study, conducted in partnership with the polling firm YouGov, focused on people’s views and intentions concerning childbirth.
While most respondents of childbearing age said they ideally wanted two or more children, many believed that goal was out of reach due to financial or social constraints.
Eighteen percent said they expected to have fewer children than they wanted, while 11 percent said they had plans to have fewer than their ideal number. Among respondents aged 50 and over, 31 percent said their actual number of children fell short of what they had hoped for.
The primary obstacle cited was money; 39 percent of participants said financial concerns had either led them to have fewer children or could do so in the future. In Korea, that figure rose sharply to 58 percent — the highest among the countries surveyed.
Other major concerns included job loss and economic instability, cited by 21 percent, housing challenges with 19 percent and a lack of sufficient child-rearing support options at 12 percent.
The UNFPA says the findings challenge the often-repeated notion that younger generations are simply less interested in having children. Instead, the report suggests that the issue lies not in people’s life goals but in the lack of practical support.
“The world has begun an unprecedented decline in fertility rates. […] Many feel unable to create the families they want, and that is the real crisis,” said Natalia Kanem, UNFPA’s executive director.
Kanem called for stronger institutional support to help people meet their family goals, including policies for affordable reproductive health care, an end to gender-discriminatory norms and greater support from partners and communities.
“Too few people are able to exercise true choice when it comes to some of the most intimate and consequential decisions in their lives,” she said.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)