The 'Birth Support Seoul' Begins to Shine...Continuing Customized Policy Promotion

[Financial News] Since recording the lowest point in 2023, the birth rate, which has started to rebound, is steadily rising in Seoul this year. In particular, the marriage rate, which can be seen as a leading indicator of the birth rate, is also increasing, leading to expectations of a continuous increase in the birth rate. The 'Birth Support Seoul Project', which started operating at the lowest point of the total fertility rate, is finally beginning to show results from the end of last year after about two years.
According to Seoul City on the 10th, young people are receiving comprehensive support from the 'Birth Support Seoul Project' across three major areas covering the entire life cycle, from meeting to marriage, pregnancy and childbirth, childcare, and work-life balance, with 87 projects in total.
According to the May population trend of Statistics Korea, the number of births in Seoul from January to May this year increased by 9.1% compared to the previous year, and the number of marriages also increased by 15.3%. These figures significantly exceed the national average of 6.9% for marriages and 6.7% for births.
Looking at the trend, since March-April last year, both the number of births and marriages in Seoul have been showing a steady upward trend. The number of births has been increasing for 14 consecutive months since April last year. The number of marriages increased for 13 consecutive months from March last year, then temporarily decreased in April, but instead increased by 1,498 cases in May, the 'wedding peak season', marking the largest growth this year.
With both the number of births and the leading indicator of marriage showing an increase for over a year, there are evaluations that Seoul's response to low birth rates is showing effects beyond a 'temporary rebound'. Since 2023, Seoul has been investing more than 1 trillion won annually to respond to 'ultra-low birth rates'.
This year, in particular, the budget for responding to low births and care is being expanded to focus support on the demand for marriage and childbirth. This is to prevent situations where people give up on marriage or childbirth due to housing issues or leave Seoul. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon also mentioned at a press conference marking his third anniversary in office last month that "the housing issue is the most urgent knot that Seoul needs to untie."
Seoul City is reducing housing concerns by supplying 'Miri Nae Jib' as long-term rental housing for newlyweds. The goal is to supply 3,500 units this year, and from 2026, it will be expanded to over 4,000 units annually. When a non-homeowning couple enters the childbirth period, they are supported with up to 720,000 won over two years, with 300,000 won per month through the 'Childbirth Non-Homeowning Household Housing Expense Support Project'. This is supported by calculating the house price gap with areas outside Seoul's metropolitan area.
A Seoul City official said, "We plan to continue promoting effective policies to not miss the golden time of responding to low births," and "it is important to provide necessary support according to demand rather than diversifying support sporadically."
Suk Jae-eun, a professor of social welfare at Hallym University, said, "National efforts to actively come forward with forward-looking low birth rate measures seem to have changed social awareness and become a major driver of the rebound," and "policies that continue to support behind the scenes are needed to not stay at a total fertility rate of 0.8 but to go above 1."
However, "Seoul's advancement has a background factor where most of the young population is concentrated in the metropolitan area for reasons such as jobs," and "it is necessary to meticulously compose policies that still have blind spots, such as work-family balance and care issues, to meet the demand," he analyzed.
chlee1@fnnews.com Lee Chang-hoon Reporter