Jang Hyang-hee, 45, collapses every time she fails in the 5th examination
May 23, 2025
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Part 1 notes that it is difficult to raise the fertility rate only with policies such as expanding gender equality and caring welfare. Experts pointed out that the real cause of the low birth rate was 'the concentration of the metropolitan area'. Korea is an unusual country where more than 50% of the population and GDP are concentrated in the metropolitan area, and it is overwhelming compared to other countries with high urban concentration such as France and Japan. In such an environment, young people are immersed in survival due to fierce competition and high housing costs, and childbirth is naturally pushed to the lower ranks.
In the second part that follows, we will explore alternatives. What will the daily life look like for families who left the metropolitan area where fierce competition is prevalent and started a new life in the region. In less intense competition, generous housing, and a warm community, childbirth could have been a 'choice' rather than a 'giving'.
KBS's low birth special documentary 'Shall we have a baby?' looked into the social structure and environment that block childbirth decisions, and explored the possibility of finding a solution to the low birth problem in the region, away from living in the metropolitan area.
◇Part 1 What Blocks Birth
▶ Musical actor Jang Hyang-hee from Miss Trot 2! a daily routine of challenging a test tube at the age of 45
Jang Hyang-hee, 45, who lives in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. Once a musical actress, she and her husband Yoo Kyung-in, 37, who is eight years younger, had a relationship last summer. And I went straight to the fertility hospital without even having time to enjoy the sweetness of the newlyweds. She was usually afraid of getting a shot, but she is conducting the 5th in vitro procedure with the intention of having a child. It was her online friends who grabbed her heart that collapsed every time an in vitro procedure failed. They don't know their names or faces, but under the common denominator of infertility, they become each other's fences. In the era of not having children, where does the decision to have children come from even going to infertility hospitals?
▶ Let's have a baby vs. Let's put it off, a couple struggling with 300 million debt
Kim Young-sun (33) and Lee Jin-hyung (42), who run dessert shops online, have differences of opinion over the issue of having children. Her husband Jin-hyung, who says `It's not the time yet' due to the debt of 300 million won from the failure of self-employment and unstable income, while his wife, Ryeong-sun, `wants to have children before it's too late.'" he says. A couple who have suffered setbacks in fierce competition such as civil service examinations and start-ups of cafes. How is excessive competition between Seoul and the metropolitan area affecting the couple who are considering giving birth.
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Lee Ji-hyun (35) and Kim Jung-seop (35) married after a nine-year long-term relationship. Before giving birth last November, the two were oriented towards the Dink. Living in the metropolitan area, working together was essential, and the family to help with childcare was far away. How could the two, who raised money together with a goal of 1 billion for a stable future, decide to have a child. The decisive inflection point in their lives was 'Buying My House'. It is said that 'My house', which was difficult to prepare in the metropolitan area, gave me a sense of psychological stability and gave me a heart to embrace my child. If you have an economic foundation of home, are you ready to have a baby?
▶ Wolcheon couple who work for a large company "I want to raise a child in the school district"
Yoon Sun-hwa (34) and Lee Jae-ho (36) are dual-income couples working at a large company in Seoul, with monthly income exceeding 10 million won. In 2022, the couple postponed their dream of buying their own house in the soaring housing prices in Seoul with their marriage and began studying real estate. After three years of investment study, they have prepared an apartment each in Seoul and the provinces, and they are planning their children from this year. The couple believes that the priority is to establish an economic foundation in order to raise their children in the school district in the future. This is also a reality that many young couples sympathize with.
▶ A family of multiple kids who shook Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province! a leisurely life away from the Seoul metropolitan area
Nam Soo-hyang (39) and Kim Young-joon (38), who started their honeymoon in Gimpo, made the opposite choice to ordinary young people. Raising four siblings in Seoul and the metropolitan area was worrying from home to living expenses. Then, a job offer from her husband's hometown of Changwon. The couple, who packed their bags to Changwon without hesitation because they thought it was a good opportunity, prepared a detached house where their four children could run around. Thanks to this, life satisfaction has rather increased. Let's listen to the honest story of a couple who are happy raising four children, away from the 'answer' of a successful life defined by their surroundings.
KBS's documentary on responding to the low birth rate crisis, which diagnoses the current state of low birth rate through the realistic life of young couples and seeks alternatives, should we have children?' Part 1 will air on Friday, May 23, 2025 at 11 p.m., and part 2 will air on KBS 1TV at 9:40 p.m. on June 1, 2025.
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