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Concern over Korea’s low birthrate eases, but pressure on couples to have children persists

A new survey finds seven in 10 Koreans still see the low birthrate as serious, while young women report especially strong pressure to have children. A newborn baby lays in a bassinet at a hospital in Goyang, Gyeonggi, on Dec. 26, 2025. YONHAP The share of people in Korea who view the country’s low birthrate as a serious problem has declined, though seven in 10 still consider it serious. However, about half continue to feel social pressure to have children, a level that has remained largely unchanged for four consecutive years. Among respondents, 70 percent said they viewed Korea's low birthrate as a serious problem, down 9 percentage points from 79 percent last year, according to the 2026 survey on perceptions of children and parenting released by Hankook Research. The share who said it is a problem, but not a serious one rose 7 percentage points from 15 percent to 22 percent. The survey was conducted from April 24 to 27 among 1,000 adults aged 18 and older nationwide. It had a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. The decline in the sense of urgency was particularly pronounced among people in their 40s and younger. The share who described the low birthrate as a serious problem stood at 53 percent among those aged 18 to 29, 56 percent among those in their 30s and 66 percent among those in their 40s. The shares were down 16 to 19 percentage points from a year earlier. By contrast, the figure ranged from 78 to 84 percent among people aged 50 and older, remaining at levels similar to last year. Social pressure surrounding childbirth, however, continued to weigh on respondents. A total of 55 percent agreed that Korean society pressures married couples to have children, while 50 percent agreed that people who do not have children are viewed negatively. Both figures have remained at similar levels since 2023. A visitor browses pregnancy, childbirth and child care products at a fair held at Coex in Gangnam District, western Seoul, on Aug. 6. YONHAP Young women were the group most likely to feel pressure to have children. Among women in their 30s, 80 percent said they felt that society pressured couples to have children, while 76 percent of women aged 18 to 29 agreed as well. The figures are 27 to 36 percentage points higher than among men in the same age groups. The share who felt that people without children were viewed negatively was also significantly higher among young women than their male peers, at 75 percent among women in their 30s and 70 percent among women aged 18 to 29. The most commonly cited cause of the low birthrate was the growing financial burden of raising children, including education costs, at 48 percent. This was followed by rising housing costs at 43 percent, the time and energy required to raise children at 38 percent and employment instability among young people at 34 percent. "While perceptions of the low birthrate as a crisis have declined, the social pressure to have children has remained unchanged," said Ahn Yu-jin, an intern researcher at Hankook Research. "Policy has also been moving toward having society share the burden of having and raising children."