Effective command for fighting low birthrate

If the new governmental body leaves responsibilities divided across various ministries, it will only add to inefficiency in government policy.

President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed to address the country’s demographic crisis of the world’s lowest-ever birthrate. After defining it as a “national emergency,” the president said he will establish a new government body exclusively devoted to lifting the pitifully low fertility rate of the country. The new government body will be headed by a deputy prime minister.

President Yoon said the new organization will have a status as powerful as the mighty Economic Planning Board during the Park Chung Hee era’s industrialization drive in the 1960s and 70s.

Since the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy was institutionalized in 2006, the government spent a whopping 380 trillion won ($278 billion) to prop up the fertility rate, but to no avail. The birthrate for childbearing women fell to 0.72 last year, 65 percent below the normal replacement rate at 2.1 births per woman. At this rate, the country’s population of 50 million could sink under 40 million by 2065 with the working population decreasing by 10 million by 2044.

The committee membered by rotating officials from various government offices for a year showed its limits in dealing with the issue in a comprehensive and consistent context. A poll by the committee found 90 percent of respondents finding little effect from existing birth policies. A new government office must re-evaluate the government’s policy direction and coordinate action plans as the command center.

The new office must first pay attention to building a social environment where people wish to have children instead of resorting to expedient cash incentives. Work-life balance and alleviation of over-competition have become a necessity, not a choice. Since depopulation can hardly be reversed, the government also must help steer the country to adapt to the new normal of a smaller population.

The establishment of a government entity dedicated to the cause cannot solve a myriad of issues at one time. In fact, it could stoke new challenges and side effects. All policies demand a budget backup. The new governmental body must closely consult, communicate and persuade the Finance Ministry, under another deputy prime minister, which dictates budget appropriation.

Government offices may not wish to depart with their current responsibilities for birthrate policies. If the new governmental body leaves responsibilities divided across various ministries, it will only add to inefficiency in government policy. It also must have close communication with the legislature. Since rivalling parties also agree on the need for such a government office, the opposition should cooperate in revising related laws to launch the new office, if it believes the government’s move to be sincere.