Referring to South Korea’s marriage and childcare policy, Ye Junxian: Budget 380 billion next year to fight for the fertility rate to stop falling

Ye Junxian, chairman of the National Development Council. (File photo, taken by reporter Wang Yisong)

[Reporter Wu Xintian/Taipei Report] Legislator Yang Qiongying pointed out that from January to September this year, there were only 69,446 newborns in our country, a decrease of 14.6% compared with the same period last year. In comparison, South Korea's total fertility rate rose from 0.72% in 2023 and 0.75% in 2024 to 0.8% in 2025, growing for two consecutive years. Ye Junxian, chairman of the National Development Council, said that the budget related to increasing marriage and childbirth next year has increased to 380 billion yuan. He hopes to stop the birth rate from falling first and then wait and see when it rebounds.

Yang Qiongying pointed out that in the face of the population crisis, South Korea not only provides childcare subsidies, but also starts from the rental and workplace systems. Busan City, South Korea, has launched public rental housing for young people and newlywed families, which provides subsidies for 20 years for one child and lifetime subsidies for two children. Incheon City also provides strong assistance from 1,000 won housing, which translates into a monthly rent of only about NT$650, which greatly reduces the living burden of newlyweds or soon-to-be-wed families. At the same time, South Korea has also increased child care leave and salary benefits from the workplace. Eligible parents can extend the care of their children to one and a half years each, and expand and reduce working hours to take good care of their children.

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Yang Qiongying emphasized that although it is impossible to say that a single factor caused the increase in the fertility rate, it is clear that the fertility rate has indeed increased after the implementation of South Korea's policies, and has grown for two consecutive years. Compared with my country, although there are measures such as childcare subsidies, affordable childcare and housing support, the fertility rate is still at a new low.

In this regard, Ye Junxian said that in the implementation of marriage and childbirth increase, the budget in 2027 will be significantly increased to 380 billion yuan, while the budget for 2026 this year is about 123 billion yuan, and the overall amount will be significantly increased starting next year. He pointed out that in addition to referring to South Korea's practices, such as increasing the proportion of marriage and childbearing homes from the original 20% to 40% and extending the residence time to 12 years, since the policy will only start next year, he hopes to have one year of implementation results to observe the subsequent development.

Yang Qiongying criticized that since the policy and the budget increase of one and a half times have been proposed, specific systems, methods and KPIs must be put in place. Ye Junxian said, "Having a baby is very different from buying things." He hopes that this downward trend will stop the decline first, and then wait and see when it rebounds.

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