The Covid-19 may have a more lasting and long-term impact on the Korean economy by further dissuading young people from getting married and having children to worsen demographic risk for the country’s future, the Bank of Korea (BOK) warned.

Demographic toll from Covid-19 would be less severe due to relatively smaller deaths and infection rates compared to other countries, the central bank said in a study on epidemic influence on demographic front released on Wednesday,

But the economic fallout and uncertainties about the future would further discourage young people to start a family and worsen the already-gloomy demographic outlook, it said.

“Job and income insecurity took a bigger hit on young adults in their 20s and 30s, disrupting their future plans to marry and have children,” the report noted.

The Korean economy added 288,000 jobs in the first quarter versus a year ago. But it shed 314,000 jobs in the third quarter as the coronavirus ravaged the global economy.

In the March-September period, there were 118,000 marriages in Korea, down 10 percent from the same period a year ago.

Registrations for the national subsidy card handed out to expectant mothers also dropped 6.7 percent in April-August to 137,000, according to the National Health Insurance Service.

Increased social distancing and growing competition in the job market may have intensified the trend toward single-person households, the report added.

The BOK also projected the epidemic impact on family plans won’t recover until after 2022, with birth rate to hover even below the worst-scenario fertility rate of 0.72 in 2022.

Population thinning and aging could accelerate, posing burden on future economic growth and financing, the BOK added.

“By the time the generation of low birthrate reaches the age for marriage and birth, the birthrate could slump further after 2045,” it added.

By Pulse

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]