Illustration: Liu Rui/GT





On November 12, legions of South Korean netizens made "bachelor tax" as the top search term for an entire day. The sudden concern was a reaction to a report that cited a top tax bureau official as saying that the country might have to adopt a bachelor tax, a penalty for unmarried men, in order to boost the world lowest birth rate. Amid furious public reaction, the tax bureau later denied the report, saying it's just a mere opinion of the official and it is not considering this type of tax, which was once imposed by tyrants like Benito Mussolini, Nicolae Ceausescu, and Adolf Hitler.



While it might have been a slip of the tongue by an official, it palpably reflexes how much the South Korean government is tormented by the low birth rate, which is making the country one of the most rapidly aging societies in the world.



It's a natural phenomenon that people delay marriage or give up on idea all together as economy grows and women get better education. Marriage has been losing its status as "rite of passage" and become a choice in many parts of the world. But South Korea is in a grave situation.



An average South Korean woman gives birth to 1.3 children during her lifetime, compared with the global average of 2.5, according to a report by the United Nations Population Fund.



The low fertility rate will bring South Korea numerous socioeconomic problems, such as labor shortages and huge tax burdens.



That's why the government and politicians have introduced a slew of policies aiming to boost the fertility rate. But the country has still had the world's lowest birth rate since the early 2000s.



An idea like a bachelor tax just infuriates people, and not just because of the fact that singles are already paying more taxes per head.



"It's not that I don't want to get married, I don't have money to get married," said one netizen, echoing many others. Financial burden is one of the most significant factors that make people shun marriage or childbirth.



The cost of marriage, with one marriage culture research institute estimating as high as 200 million won ($180,000) for a couple, and the cost of raising a child, 300 million won until the college education according to a survey by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, are just so overwhelming that some people simply gave up.



Meanwhile, policymakers are coming up with Band-Aid measures, like giving out one-off incentives for a family that has more than one child or offering unattractive housing options for newly wed couples, while the real problems are slow to be mended.



A friend of mine who got married in 2008 just had a baby this year. Her choice came at the cost of her career, however. Despite decade-long efforts to improve working environment for women, my friend still worked in a industry where she was tacitly pressured to quit after she got pregnant.



She doesn't know when she can go back to the workforce, but said she knows that it would be very difficult.



Asked if she wanted to have another baby, she shook her head. And many women in South Korea are probably shaking their heads right now.



While everyone in the society ought to endeavor to lower the ridiculous costs of wedding and child raising, the policies that should be a priority are the ones that can help women in the workforce. It will be way more effective than trying to tackle the organic growth of bachelors and micro-families.



The author is a reporter with the Global Times. gayoungpark@globaltimes.com.cn