Many adults in South Korea have chosen either not to have children or not to marry. Similar things are happening in other developed countries, but many consider South Korea's population crisis severe.
韩国许多成年人要么选择不生育，要么选择不结婚。其他发达国家也发生了类似的事情，但许多人认为韩国的人口危机很严重。
 
A South Korean government agency announced in September that the total fertility rate reached 0.81 last year. The total fertility rate is the average number of babies born to each woman in their reproductive years. South Korea's fertility rate has been the world's lowest for three years now.
韩国政府机构9月宣布，去年的总和生育率达到0.81。总和生育率是每个妇女在育龄期平均生育的婴儿数。韩国的生育率已经连续三年处于世界最低水平。
 
The population decreased for the first time in 2021. It raised concerns for severe damage to the economy. Some observers expect labor shortages and high spending on retirement payments as the number of older people increases while the number of taxpayers decreases.
人口在 2021 年首次减少。这引发了人们对经济严重受损的担忧。一些观察人士预计，随着老年人数量增加而纳税人数量减少，将出现劳动力短缺和退休金支出高企的情况。
 
President Yoon Suk Yeol has ordered policymakers to find better ways to deal with the problem. The fertility rate, he said, is still decreasing although South Korea spent $210 billion over the past 16 years to increase it.
韩国总统尹锡烈已下令政策制定者寻找更好的方法来解决这个问题。他说，尽管韩国在过去 16 年中花费了 2100 亿美元来提高生育率，但生育率仍在下降。
 
Many young South Koreans say that, unlike their parents and grandparents, they do not feel an obligation to have a family. Reasons some say for not having children include: a difficult job market, costly housing, inequality between the sexes, and social inequality.
许多年轻的韩国人说，与他们的父母和祖父母不同，他们不觉得有家庭的义务。有人说不生孩子的原因包括：就业市场困难、住房昂贵、性别不平等和社会不平等。
 
Some also say the high cost of raising children in a competitive society is a reason. Some women say men expect them to do much of the childcare while they face discrimination at work.
也有人说，在竞争激烈的社会中养育孩子的成本高也是一个原因.一些女性表示，她们在工作中面临歧视时，却希望男性承担大部分的育儿工作。
 
Lee So-Young is a population policy expert at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. She said, "People think our country isn't an easy place to live." And she added, "They believe their children can't have better lives than them, and so question why they should bother to have babies."
Lee So-Young 是韩国卫生与社会事务研究所的人口政策专家。她说，“人们认为我们的国家不是一个容易居住的地方。”她补充说，“他们认为他们的孩子不可能过上比他们更好的生活，所以质疑他们为什么要费心生孩子。”
 
Choi Yoon Kyung is an expert at the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education. She said many people who fail to enter good schools and get good jobs feel they have become "dropouts" who "cannot be happy." They feel that way even if they marry and have children because South Korea lacks social spending programs. She said South Korea failed to establish such programs during its economic growth in the 1960s to the 1980s.
Choi Yoon Kyung 是韩国儿童保育和教育研究所的专家。她说，很多没能考上好学校、找不到好工作的人，觉得自己成了“无法幸福”的“辍学生”。即使他们结婚生子，他们也会有这种感觉，因为韩国缺乏社会支出计划。她说，韩国在 1960 年代至 80 年代的经济增长期间未能建立此类计划。
 
There are no official numbers on how many South Koreans have chosen not to marry or have children. But records from one national agency show there were about 193,000 marriages in South Korea last year. That is a big drop from the highest point of 430,000 in 1996.
没有关于有多少韩国人选择不结婚或不生孩子的官方数字。但一家国家机构的记录显示，去年韩国大约有 193,000 对婚姻。与 1996 年的最高点 430,000 相比大幅下降。
 
Agency information also says about 260,600 babies were born in South Korea last year, down from 691,200 in 1996. The highest level was 1 million babies in 1971. The recent numbers were the lowest since the agency began collecting such information in 1970.
机构信息还称，去年韩国出生的婴儿约为 260,600，低于 1996 年的 691,200。最高水平为 100 万婴儿1971 年。最近的数字是该机构自 1970 年开始收集此类信息以来的最低值。
 
Until the mid-1990s, South Korea had birth control programs, which the government started to slow the country's population increase after the Korean War. The government gave out birth control drugs and devices for free at public medical centers. It also offered men exemptions from some required military service if they had a medical operation that prevents fertility.
直到 20 世纪 90 年代中期，韩国才实行计划生育计划，政府在朝鲜战争后开始减缓该国的人口增长。政府在公共医疗中心免费发放避孕药和装置。如果男性接受了阻止生育的医疗手术，它还允许男性免除一些必要的兵役。
 
United Nations information shows that the average South Korean woman gave birth to about four to six children in the 1950s and ‘60s, three to four in the 1970s, and fewer than two by the mid-1980s.
联合国的资料显示，韩国女性在 1950 年代平均生育大约 4 到 6 个孩子， 60 年代，70 年代有三到四个，到 80 年代中期不到两个。
 
South Korea has been offering different incentives and support programs for those who give birth to many children. But Choi said the fertility rate has been falling too fast to see any real effects. During a government meeting last month, officials said they would soon have to propose new measures to deal with the population decrease.
韩国一直在为生育多子的人提供不同的奖励和支持计划。但崔表示，生育率下降得太快，看不到任何实际影响。在上个月的一次政府会议上，官员们表示他们很快将不得不提出新的措施来应对人口减少的问题。
 
Yoo Young Yi is a financial worker in Seoul. She said that until she went to college, she strongly wanted a baby. But she changed her mind when she saw female coworkers concerned about their children or leaving early when their children were sick. She said her male coworkers did not have to do this. She said she then thought her ability to work would decrease if she had babies.
Yoo Young Yi 是首尔的一名金融工作者。她说，在她上大学之前，她非常想要一个孩子。但当她看到女同事关心孩子或孩子生病时提前离开时，她改变了主意。她说她的男同事不必这样做。她说她当时认为如果她有了孩子，她的工作能力就会下降。
 
Her 34-year-old husband, Jo Jun Hwi, said he does not think having children is necessary. He works at an information technology company. Jo said he wants to enjoy his life after getting a job made him "feel like I was standing on the edge of a cliff."
她 34 岁的丈夫 Jo Jun Hwi 说他认为没有必要生孩子。他在一家信息技术公司工作。 Jo 说他想在找到一份工作后享受生活，这让他“感觉自己站在悬崖边上。”
 
But 38-year-old Seo Ji Seong said she is often called a patriot by older people for having many babies although she has not thought of it that way. She is expecting her fifth baby in January.
但 38 岁的 Seo Ji Seong 说她经常被称为一个爱国者，因为她生了很多孩子，虽然她没有这么想过。她将在一月份迎来她的第五个孩子。
 
Her husband said he enjoys seeing each of his children growing up, while Seo values their development at home.
她的丈夫说他很高兴看到他的每个孩子都在成长，而Seo也很重视他们在家里的成长。
 
"They are all so cute. That's why I've kept giving birth to babies even though it's difficult," Seo added.
“他们都很可爱，这就是为什么我一直在生孩子，尽管很困难”徐补充道。