Few children and high aging: This is the struggle currently facing South Korea like few other countries. To solve the problems, two new ideas have been conceived: nannies from the Philippines and robots.
What problems does South Korea face? South Korea has, uniquely among industrialized nations, an average number of children per woman that is below 1.00: Currently, it’s at 0.72. The German ZDF cites high workloads, high costs of housing and education as reasons. Along with this comes another problem: the significant aging of the population.
For several years now, South Korea has been trying to tackle the declining birth rates and rising aging. Now, a new “solution” has been found for the problems: they are relying on foreign nannies and robots.
Nannies for birth rate and robots for the elderly
What kind of nannies are these? South Korea issues special visas to attract Filipino domestic workers as nannies. However, requirements include skills such as childcare, household management, and basic language skills. The aim is to relieve the local population and encourage them to have children. This is reported by the English magazine Reuters.com.
One problem, however, is that the domestic workers are to be paid below the South Korean minimum wage to match the pay in their home country. This measure has faced strong international criticism (via 3djuegos.com).
What kind of robots are these? In South Korean society, there are already so many elderly people that it is becoming increasingly difficult to care for them all, and alternative solutions are being sought. One idea is now robots: In 2023, the city administration of Seoul distributed about 500 robotic dogs to elderly individuals living alone (via seoul.go.kr).
The robots are intended to encourage older individuals to exercise, support them as AI-assisted companions in daily life, and autonomously call emergency services if help is needed. Additionally, they serve as an autonomous monitoring system so that professionals can closely track the progress of the elderly without having to visit each household daily.
A Chinese influencer studied economics in New York and became known in China through a dating show. Now he rented an advanced robot for about €1,300 and went on a date with it. Perhaps this is the solution for all the lonely people out there: 25-year-old rents an expensive robot for a date, no longer feels lonely
