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☆ For New Moms in Seoul, 3 Weeks of Pampering and Sleep at a Joriwon
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Lauretta Charlton | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Four mothers sat quietly in the nursing room around midnight, breastfeeding their newborn babies. As one mother nodded off, her eyelids heavy after giving birth less than two weeks earlier, a nurse came in and whisked her baby away. Sleep is just one of the luxuries provided by South Korea’s postpartum care centers. The country may have the world’s lowest birthrate, but it is also home to perhaps some of its best postpartum care. At centers like St. Park, a small, boutique postpartum center, or joriwon, in Seoul, new moms are pampered for a few weeks after giving birth and treated to hotel-like accommodations.

Locations: St, Seoul

☆ China stock market: Calm returns after wild week but big challenges remain
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Hong Kong CNN —It’s been a rollercoaster week for stocks trading in mainland China and Hong Kong. “For a sustained rally in China stocks, we think China will need to address the core of these concerns (predominantly property sector issues and US-China tensions),” the analysts added. In the 7 days to January 24, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking Chinese stocks recorded large inflows of $12.6 billion, according to a Citi survey of global fund managers. Still, investors have been fleeing Chinese stocks over a much longer period because they are worried about the country’s economic prospects. The country is facing the prospect of a vicious cycle whereby lower demand leads to lower investment, lower production and lower income, thus causing even lower demand.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN — It’s, Hong, — haven’t, ” Nomura, “, Li Qiang, ”, Li Yunze, Pan Gongsheng, Florence Lo, HSI, Raymond Yeung, ” Yeung Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Shanghai Shenzhen, ”, Shanghai Financial Exchange, Bloomberg, State, Supervision, Administration Commission, Administration of Financial, Reuters, People’s Bank of China, Citi, Enodo Economics, HSBC, Greater China, ANZ Research Locations: China, Hong Kong, Shanghai, United States, Beijing, Davos, Switzerland, Greater

☆ Why Chinese stocks have lost $6 trillion in 3 years: everything you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Hong Kong CNN —Chinese shares haven’t just had a bad start to 2024. The astonishing losses, reminiscent of the last Chinese stock market crash of 2015-2016, highlight a crisis of confidence among investors concerned about the country’s future. But on the same day, major state-owned banks moved to support the Chinese yuan, in order to prevent the currency from falling too fast as Chinese shares plunged, according to a Reuters report, citing unnamed sources. Topics related to the “market plunge” and “China’s stock market rescue” were trending on Weibo on Tuesday. “I’m sad about today’s stock market performance,” Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief for state newspaper Global Times, posted on Weibo on Monday.

Persons: It’s, “, Goldman Sachs, Wall, Li Qiang, ”, Nomura, bedeviling, Beijing’s, Li, Ken Cheung, ” Hu Xijin, “ Hu Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Reuters, Bloomberg, Monday, People’s Bank of China, ”, Big Tech, Xinhua, Hong, Mizuho Bank, Global Times Locations: China, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Japan, Asia, Beijing, US, Weibo

☆ China's stock market is in a 3-year slump and Beijing's flip-flops are adding to the confusion
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

China's stock market lost more than $6 trillion in valuation from 2021 through last week. The market is confused by Beijing's policy stance on the economy, per Nomura economists. AdvertisementA brutal downcycle in China's stock market has wiped out over $6 trillion in valuations since 2021 — and policymakers in Beijing may be adding to the turmoil. "There has been increasing confusion over Beijing's policy stance on the economy," wrote Nomura economists in a Monday note seen by Business Insider. While China's stock market is still in the dumps, some see opportunities ahead.

Persons: —, Bloomberg's, Xi Jinping's, Ji Min Organizations: Bloomberg, Nomura, Service, CSI, People's Bank of China, Business, Economic Work, China Morning Locations: Beijing, China, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen

☆ Kim Jong Un Urges Women to Be Good Comrades—and Give Birth
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Dasl Yoon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

North Korean women face widespread discrimination in the country’s deeply patriarchal society. Photo: kim won jin/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesSEOUL— Kim Jong Un has a new mission for North Korean women: Have more babies. Kim acknowledged the impoverished nation’s plunging birthrate for the first time publicly at a rare National Conference of Mothers. Wiping away tears, the 39-year-old dictator, who is a father of three, described mothers as revolutionaries who were on the front lines of rooting out antisocialist behavior and helping the nation prosper.

Persons: kim, Kim Jong, Kim Organizations: Agence France, Getty, North, National Conference of Locations: SEOUL

☆ Opinion | Is South Korea Disappearing?
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For some time now, South Korea has been a striking case study in the depopulation problem that hangs over the developed world. Almost all rich countries have seen their birthrates settle below replacement level, but usually that means somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.5 children per woman. For instance in 2021 the United States stood at 1.7, France at 1.8, Italy at 1.3 and Canada at 1.4. It’s worth unpacking what that means. Run the experiment through a second generational turnover, and your original 200-person population falls below 25.

Persons: you’re, Stephen King’s Locations: South Korea, United States, France, Italy, Canada, Europe, America

☆ Putin is urging women to have as many as 8 children after so many Russians died in his war with Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

President Vladimir Putin is urging Russians to have more children. Russian birthrates are falling amid war in Ukraine and a deepening economic crisis. AdvertisementRussian President Vladimir Putin is urging women to have as many as eight children after so many Russians are dying in his war with Ukraine, worsening the country's spiraling population crisis. "Many of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, had seven, eight, or even more children," said Putin. The war in Ukraine has led an estimated 900,000 people to flee the country.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, —, Le Monde, Alexei Raksha Organizations: Service, Russian People's Council, UK's Ministry of Defence, Ukraine, AFP, RFE Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, Meduza, Rosstat

☆ A Battle Over China’s Reproductive Future Is Underway - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( Leta Hong Fincher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

By 25, her Chinese parents were accusing her of causing them a public loss of face because she still had no plans to wed. Her father warned her that women are worth less to a man as they near the age of 30, when — according to Chinese government propaganda — their peak childbearing time has passed. When Amiee was 29, her mother threatened to jump off a building if she didn’t find a husband. Amiee — whose full name is being withheld to avoid potential repercussions for questioning government policy — wasn’t against marriage, per se. I hear similar stories from single women across China, where sexist state propaganda labels single professional women older than 27 as sheng nu, or leftover women.

Persons: Amiee, badgered, ”, Amiee —, —, hadn’t Locations: China

☆ Hong Kong, Facing an Exodus, Offers Money for Babies
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Selina Cheng | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Hong Kong isn’t alone in struggling with a falling birthrate. Singapore and South Korea also pay parents to have children. Photo: Vernon Yuen/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesHONG KONG—Hong Kong’s government is grappling with an exodus of citizens and a plummeting birthrate. Its solution: Subsidize baby-making. Those who choose to remain in the city are increasingly opting out of having children: Hong Kong’s fertility rate is the lowest in the world.

Persons: Hong Kong isn’t, Vernon Yuen Organizations: HONG Locations: Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, HONG KONG, Beijing

Most of the people participating in the trend are in their 20s, citing various reasons for quitting ranging from low wages to burnout. LiangAccording to China’s LinkedIn equivalent Maimai, out of 1,554 employees across various sectors surveyed from January through October 2022, 28% resigned that year. A similar movement, dubbed the Great Resignation, had taken off in the United States, with almost 50 million people quitting their jobs in two years. Despite the proliferation of higher education degrees, China’s economy doesn’t currently require as many high-skilled workers and it takes time to transform the economic structure, she said. The resignation trend could affect fertility, but it’s not yet clear how, she said.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, Liang, “, ”, Nancy Qian, they’ve, Jade Gao, Qian, ” Qian, Yao Lu, Veyron Mai, ” Lu, Young Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, CNN, ” CNN, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Getty, Ministry of Education, Columbia University, University Locations: China, Hong Kong, China’s Zhejiang, United States, West, Beijing, AFP, Yibin, Foshan, Taizhou

☆ Slowing, Graying and in Debt, Can China’s Industrial Heartland Be Revived?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Keith Bradsher | More About Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Hundreds of workers at a factory in Shenyang in northeastern China weld automated machines, 95 yards long, that are used to bore subway tunnels. At another factory there, employees assemble robots that China’s solar panel makers will use to streamline their production. Shenyang is the capital of Liaoning Province, one of three large provinces in the northeast that constitute the cradle of China’s heavy industry. Now the central government, confronting a national economy that has slowed because of a real estate crisis that defies easy fixes, is turning to cities like Shenyang. Fewer people are buying new homes, apartment prices are falling and construction cranes are less active.

Locations: Shenyang, China, Liaoning Province, Beijing

☆ Opinion | The Hope at the Bottom of the ‘Child Care Cliff’
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Jessica Grose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

So I called Kathryn Anne Edwards, an economist and economic policy consultant, to see if there’s an argument that might change people’s minds about the utter necessity of more robust government child care funding — or if I should lose all hope in the possibility of a shift in the way that child care is thought about, discussed and sustained in the United States. labor force participation is midway through a historic decline. In Edwards’s phrasing, it “has been frozen in time for 25 years.” When you see headlines about how we’re at all-time highs for women’s labor force participation, Edwards suggests, that’s misleading. When you look at the actual level of increase since the 1990s, labor force participation among women has barely budged, and without a policy shift, we shouldn’t expect it to go up much in the coming years. The second thing that could force Congress to act on child care is that the birthrate is on the decline in the United States, Edwards said.

Persons: Kathryn Anne Edwards, Edwards, ”, ” Edwards, “, Peter G Organizations: Social, Peterson Foundation, Social Security Locations: United States

☆ Japan PM to Include Five Women in Cabinet - Media
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's cabinet will include five female ministers, the same number as in two previous administrations, Japanese media reported on Wednesday, as the premier seeks to boost his sagging ratings with fresh faces. About 43% of respondents disapproved of Kishida's leadership while 36% approved, according to a poll by public broadcaster NHK conducted last week. Yoko Kamikawa, a former justice minister who oversaw the execution of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult that carried out a deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995, will become foreign minister, the media outlets said. The number of women in cabinet is the same as previous cabinets led by former premiers Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe. Kishida has also appointed pro-Taiwan politician Minoru Kihara to head the defence ministry, while retaining Shunichi Suzuki as finance minister and Yasutoshi Nishimura as economic minister, the media outlets said.

Persons: Fumio Kishida's, Kishida, Yoko Kamikawa, Sanae, Junichiro Koizumi, Shinzo Abe, Minoru Kihara, Suzuki, Yasutoshi Nishimura, Sakura Murakami, Miral Fahmy Organizations: NHK Locations: TOKYO, Tokyo, Taiwan

☆ Americans’ Ideal Family Size Is Larger Than the Birthrate Suggests
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Josh Zumbrun | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/relationships/americans-ideal-family-size-is-larger-than-the-birthrate-suggests-9326b830

Persons: Dow Jones, 9326b830

☆ Rapidly aging South Korea prepares to open door for foreign maids
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Soo-Hyang Choi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A man and children wearing masks to protect against contracting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) take a walk at a Han River Park in Seoul, South Korea April 4, 2020. The issue sits at the confluence of South Korea's sharply declining birthrate, aging population, and its historical reluctance to accept more immigrants. South Korea is in talks with the Philippines as one of the potential sources of workers with an aim to start the pilot programme as early as December, officials said. The new scheme is the latest in a series of efforts by the government to reverse the plunging birth rate of Asia's fourth-largest economy. "There is no one-size-fits-all solution to low birth rate," Oh said.

Persons: Heo, hoon, 1,322.1800, Soo, hyang Choi, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Organisation for Economic Co, Development, OECD, Thomson Locations: Seoul, South Korea, Rights SEOUL, South, Philippines, Koreans

Seoul, South Korea CNN —As South Korea struggles to get young people interested in marriage and kids, authorities are trying a new tack: importing foreign workers to carry some of the household burden. The plan will expand the number of industries and companies eligible to employ foreign workers, as South Korea faces an aging population, shrinking workforce and labor shortages in various sectors. South Korea has long struggled with chronic labor shortages in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors, Reuters reported. Some politicians have previously urged the government to import foreign workers to help alleviate the burdens on young couples and parents. Singapore’s migrant worker system is just as controversial for employing cheap foreign labor to sustain one of the world’s richest countries.

Persons: ”, They’ll, Seoul’s, –, Housekeepers, Indonesia – Organizations: South Korea CNN, Authorities, Reuters, Ministry, Employment, Labor, Hong Locations: Seoul, South Korea, South, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, birthrate, Korean, “, Philippines, Indonesia

☆ World’s Lowest Birthrate Sinks Further Despite Cash Payouts to Parents
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Dasl Yoon | Timothy W. Martin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/worlds-lowest-birthrate-sinks-further-despite-cash-payouts-to-parents-23a92210

Persons: Dow Jones, 23a92210 Locations: asia

☆ In Japan, a third of today's 18-year-olds may not have children - study
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (IPSS) estimated in a report that 33.4% of women born in 2005 would be childless. The number of children in Japan has been falling for more than four decades as the appetite for marriage and parenting has waned and financial worries have grown, surveys show. That trend could itself be causing a vicious cycle of fewer children begetting fewer children, said Takuya Hoshino, senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute. As people have fewer children, they are able to spend more on each child than families have in the past. That drives up the average cost of raising a child for the broader population, putting some people off from having children, he said.

Persons: Eita Sato, Aoi Hoshi, Issei Kato, Fumio Kishida, Anna Tanaka, Miho Iwasawa, Iwasawa, Takuya Hoshino, IPSS, Satoshi Sugiyama, Chang, Ran Kim, Robert Birsel Organizations: Junior High School, REUTERS, Rights, National Institute of Population, Social Security Research, Kyodo, Reuters, Dai, Research, Thomson Locations: Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, one's

☆ Is the bride 25 or younger? Couples get cash reward to promote earlier marriage in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Cheng Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A newly-wed couple pose with their marriage certificates at the marriage registration center during '520 I Love You' Day on May 20, 2023 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province of China. Local Chinese officials trying to encourage earlier marriages are offering an incentive that all newlywed couples can appreciate: cash. The reward, which is restricted to couples marrying for the first time, is meant to promote "age-appropriate marriage and childbearing," the notice said. They include abolishing the "one-child policy" that reigned from the late 1970s until 2016, which was designed to limit the number of births to prevent China's population from growing too quickly. The China Population and Development Research Center, a government-backed institution, said the number of children per woman in China was the lowest among countries with populations over 100 million.

Persons: Couples Organizations: Development Research Center, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Young, Social, Twitter Locations: Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, Local, Changshan county, Zhejiang, Weibo

☆ Opinion | Colleges Can Do a Lot for Social Mobility Right Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Jessica Grose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

As Katharine Meyer, a fellow in the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, has written: “Overall enrollment is down, especially at community colleges. There are more ‘stopped out’ students — students who left college with some credits but no degree. Restore Funding That Was Cut After the Great RecessionIt sounds obvious, but if we want a more effective system of higher education, that requires money. According to analysis from the National Education Association, “In 2020, it looked like things were slowly improving, but then the pandemic hit. found that “32 states spent less on public colleges and universities in 2020 than in 2008, with an average decline of nearly $1,500 per student.”

Persons: Josh Wyner, Katharine Meyer, ” Organizations: Aspen Institute’s, Community, Brown Center, Education, Brookings Institution, Budget, National Education Association, “ Locations: United States

But in South Korea, “no-kids zones” have become remarkably popular in recent years. In addition to the world’s lowest birthrate, South Korea has one of the world’s fastest aging populations. A widely circulated crowd-sourced Google Map shows the location of many of South Korea's no-kids zones, as identified by users. A man looks at strollers at a baby fair in Seoul, South Korea, in September 2022. See why South Korea has the world's lowest fertility rate 02:41 - Source: CNNNo kids to kids first?

Persons: it’s, Yong Hye, Bonnie Tilland, Tilland, ”, Lee Yi, “ It’s, Lee Ji, Kim Se, “, choong, ” Tilland, Yong, don’t, ” Yong, Barista Ahn Hee, yul, they’re Organizations: Seoul CNN —, South, Google, Income Party, National Assembly, Facebook, Human Rights, UN, Yonsei University, Leiden University, Hankook Research, CNN Locations: Seoul, South Korea, Jeju, Japan, United States, South, Korea, Netherlands, ‘

☆ Opinion | Soon We Won’t Have Enough Kids to Fill Our Schools. That’s a Problem.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Jessica Grose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The number of school-age children in America is declining. And declining university enrollment based on a lower school-age population — which has been described as a “demographic cliff” — is something that some colleges are already grappling with. K-12 public school systems around the country are facing a similar demographic reality. As The Times’s Shawn Hubler reported in May, “All together America’s public schools have lost at least 1.2 million students since 2020,” according to a survey from the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute. Even in states like Arizona, where there’s been overall population growth in recent years, enrollment has remained below prepandemic numbers, and rural schools in the state have been struggling for several years.

Persons: Shawn Hubler, “, Thomas Dee, ”, there’s Organizations: American Enterprise Institute, Stanford’s Graduate School of Education Locations: America, Chicago, Michigan, Philadelphia , New York City, Seattle, Boston, United States, Florida’s Orange County, Orlando, Pinellas County, Tampa, Arizona

The package, which Kishida is likely to explain at a press conference, may help his party appeal to the public with promises of payouts. Kishida has said he hopes to double child care spending, now about 4.7 trillion yen ($33.7 billion), by the early 2030s. Under the plan, the government is likely to earmark about 3.5 trillion yen annually for the next three years for child care allowances and support for those taking child care leave. Analysts, however, doubt whether the package will do much to stem a chronic decline in the birthrate and Japan's rapidly ageing population. ($1=139.4600 yen)Reporting by Takaya Yamaguchi and Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Leika Kihara and Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Fumio Kishida, Kishida, Toru Suehiro, Japan's birthrate, Takaya Yamaguchi, Leika Kihara, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: Reuters, Analysts, Daiwa Securities, Thomson Locations: TOKYO

☆ Overcrowded India? This State Is Desperate for More Babies.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Sameer Yasir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sikkim, nestled in the Himalayas and surrounded on three sides by Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet, stands out in the teeming diversity of India’s states. It also has India’s smallest population, not even three-quarters of a million people, and its lowest birthrate. That last distinction has state leaders worried about the survival of the unique culture produced by Sikkim’s blend of ethnic groups, religions and geography. The effort points to a demographic reality in India that is often overshadowed by its sheer scale. A couple of states in the underdeveloped north account for much of it.

TOKYO, May 22 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is increasingly certain to call a snap election, perhaps within weeks, as domestic support surges after a G7 summit that drew a surprise visit by Ukraine's president. Although Kishida said on Sunday he was not thinking of dissolving parliament now, experts feel he may not be able to resist as favourable conditions stack up. "For Kishida, Zelenskiy's visit has a unique significance that will help boost his support rating," said Shigenobu Tamura, a political analyst and former LDP staffer. On Friday, it powered to its highest since 1990. read moreCalling an early election could mean less time for the opposition to prepare. An early election might come too soon to guarantee Kishida the LDP presidency even if the party does well, as a threat looms from rising prices, said analyst Atsuo Ito.

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