Helpless This is the word that best describes the South Korean government when we talk about Demography. With a birth rate of 0.72 children per woman, the country has the worst data in the world. And nothing suggests that the situation will improve on its own.

That’s why they don’t stop finance projects and search for ideas There is a way to reverse this trend: The last one is to have girls start school a year earlier than usual. Just girls.

Girls, boys and vice versa. The proposal is contained in a report prepared by the Korean Institute of Public Finance and As The Guardian explainsHe argues that “creating a one-year age difference between boys and girls in school will make them more attractive to each other when they reach marriageable age.”

The idea behind the proposal is that forming school groups by maturity rather than date of birth would help young people find themselves “more mutually attractive” when they reach the appropriate age for marriage.

The controversy wasn’t long in coming. The proposal has generated intense controversy, not only because of the idea of ​​”using children as reproductive tools” but also because the report does not present much data, models or simulations on the possible effectiveness of the measure. The public is beginning to wonder how public research institutes like these can continue to blindfold themselves. without assuming That measures “must be fundamental and multi-level” to “create a favorable environment for raising children.”

The Institute, for its part, He stated that the report clarified “It may not reflect official views on government measures to increase the birth rate.” But none of this silenced the criticism (understood as a way of profiling himself). And beyond the strange nature of the proposal, it makes clear what the real problem is.

A country in despair. South Korea in recent years did not shy away from “crazy” ideas To stop the demographic bleeding. For example, it was suggested exempt from compulsory military service All men who have three or more children before the age of 30, Abolition of minimum wage for foreign domestic workers to “ease” families’ expenses or extra taxes For those who decide not to have children

This summer, before we go any further, a hundred Filipino domestic workers they will arrive in the country In a pilot program designed to ease the pressure on working women (those who do not want to leave work to care for their children). If Korea’s demographic outlook is bleak, some solutions are on the table They enter dystopian land.

The great social laboratory of the future. The problem is that no one knows how to solve a big problem for which we are not prepared: The world is becoming empty. In fact, we have already crossed the psychological line that would indicate global demographic contraction. And we don’t know if we can keep this up.

This is the big question that will determine the future of South Korea and the rest of the world.

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in Xataka | 25% of South Koreans over 70 are still working. This is a warning for all of Europe.