Korean parents are well known for their enthusiasm for their children’s education, which usually entails a heavy financial burden. The burden is so heavy that young people give up or delay marriage and childbirth, and baby boomers who had spent more than they could afford on the education of their children have to live a financially strained post-retirement life.
This reality faced by many Koreans was confirmed statistically by an annual report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD Education at a Glance report found that the Korean government spends less on public education compared with other member states, and consequently, the private sector takes up a greater share of education expenses.
The report, based on 2011 figures, showed that the private sector in Korea accounts for 37.2 percent of education spending, compared with the OECD average of 16.1 percent. The ratio of private-sector spending on public education to the gross domestic product stood at 2.8 percent, more than three times higher than the 0.9 percent average in the OECD. Korea ranked first in this index for the 14th straight year. This results from the fact that the government is not as responsible for public education as other member states of the group of advanced nations. The Korean government accounts for 62.8 percent of the total public education spending, far below the 83.9 percent OECD average.
This problem gets more serious in higher education. The report showed that the ratio of private-sector spending on tertiary education to the GDP is 1.9 percent, nearly four times the OECD average of 0.5 percent. The Korean government is responsible only for 27 percent of tertiary education spending, compared with the 69.2 percent OECD average.
This heavy financial burden for educating children discourages young people from marriage and childbirth, which brings down Korea’s birthrate to the lowest in the world. A Statistics Korea report said last month that Korea’s birthrate has fallen to a new low as there were 8.6 births for every 1,000 people last year. It was the lowest since the government began compiling related data in 1970.
One more alarming report on population, this time about the pace of aging, came from the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade. It said the nation topped OECD members in terms of the pace of aging: With 1970 set as the base year, the size of Korea’s elderly population quadrupled, the fastest pace in OECD. The OECD average was 1.6 times, with Japan ranked second with 3.6 times and Finland 2.1 times.
These latest demographic figures show that effective measures must be worked out to raise the birthrate and slow the aging of Korean society. Lessening people’s burden on raising and educating their children is vital to achieving the goal. The OECD report tells us that increasing government spending on education is as urgent as expanding support for childbirth and childcare.
