Critics label as ‘absurd’ idea from government-backed thinktank as country seeks to address population decline
A government thinktank in South Korea has sparked anger after suggesting that girls start primary school a year earlier than boys because the measure could raise the country’s low birthrate.
A report by analysts at the Korea Institute of Public Finance said creating a one-year age gap between girls and boys at school would make them more attractive to each other by the time they reached marriageable age.
The claim is based on the idea that men are naturally attracted to younger women because men mature more slowly. Those women, in theory, would prefer to marry older men.
Raising children is work. So it’s okay to pay Filipinos to raise children, but not pay the parents to raise their own children?
They’re outsourcing parenting to foreigners, ain’t that just cute? Anything to save money huh? 🤔
They’re paying the Filipino care workers about $710/month. Paying a professional Korean working parent to stay home from her job to care for her own kids would cost a lot more than that, both in terms of the money spent and the cost to the employer to train and hire a temporary replacement.
Um, thanks for the numbers and comparison I guess, basically backing up my comment. Do they not have professional daycare facilities that employ Korean citizens?
Or are they just too cheap to pay their own citizens? Because basically every time a country outsources work of any form to foreigners, it’s always to save $$$…
Have an upvote, you’ve highlighted my basic point. 👍
I’m sure if they could pay Koreans to do the work they would. The issue is that they’re too expensive. Korea has a highly educated population with extremely fierce competition to get into the best universities (the infamous CSAT) and the best jobs after graduation. Koreans who do not make it tend to move overseas where their education gives them an advantage over other immigrants for college and job spots. This process leaves very few available workers for many different low-skilled jobs (not just child care).
So, in one comment, you refer to professional child care, and in your next comment, you refer to child care as a low-skill job?
Can you make up your mind?
Like I said, it’s not about the people, it’s about the money. Always has been, and always will be.