South Korea in demographic crisis as many stop having babies

AP ^ | 24 Nov 2022 | HYUNG-JIN KIM

[freedumb2003]

>>As much as I respect your right to do that, I fear that “planning well” very seldom works out. The number of people in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and hospices, who are totally alone, no visitors, no pictures, no caring circle, is legion. The unexpected death of a spouse is less impactful on those who have a circle of family to provide that loving support.<<

Having kids changes that not a whit. It just provides a cynical selfish reason to have kids. Which frequently turns out sadly ironic,

[daniel1212]

Abortion is main reason for loss of children in numbers, birth control will never be banned so get over that.

No: in 2020 abortion ended about 20% of pregnancies - a decrease from 22% in 2005 - but birth control is the main reason for lack of lack of pregnancies (and thus loss of children in numbers), having fallen by 20% since 2007, and which the nation is very unlikely to overcome.

https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2022/06/long-term-decline-us-abortions-reverses-showing-rising-need-abortion-supreme-court

https://econofact.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Kearney-et-al.Figure-1.v2.desktop.png

[Mears]

Kids today often live great distances from the parents so expecting them to help you out is virtually impossible.

..

[wbarmy]

Is “loving support” really cynical? Don’t we all need a circle of “loving support” just to get through this life? Or is love a cynical and selfish reason?

[freedumb2003]

but having kids does not automatically mean “loving circle.” And there is no way to know from the beginning.

[wbarmy]

More often then not, it does mean that. The vast majority of families are loving, the only ones we hear about on the media are the ones which are not.