Korea pays couples to have babies, and your high schoolers have strong opinions

South Korea's fertility rate rose to 0.75 children per woman from 0.72 in 2023, after eight consecutive years of decline from 1.24 in 2015. That's still the lowest rate anywhere, and it's still nowhere near replacement level, far below the replacement rate of 2.1. Statistics Korea called the 2024 uptick the first rise in nine years, so pitch it to students as "still an emergency, but a slightly less bad one than last year."

Your students have heard this number before you say it. What they probably haven't done is argue about whether throwing money at it actually works.

What the government is actually offering

This changes constantly, so treat every figure below as a snapshot, not a fact to memorize. As of the 2024 policy update reported by Korea Herald, new parents in Korea receive layered cash support: in the year of the childbirth, the parents receive 1 million won every month for 12 months, and in the second year of a baby's life, parents receive 500,000 won per month for 12 months, amounting to 18 million won in the first two years. On top of that, the government pays 100,000 won every month for eight years from the moment a baby is born.

Regions add their own incentives on top of the national ones, and the differences between them are the most interesting part of the lesson. South Jeolla Province, one of the fastest-shrinking areas in the country, rolled out something bigger: a basic childbirth allowance worth up to 43.2 million won (approximately $30,000) per child, paid out as a monthly payment of up to 200,000 won per child until the child turns 19. Some private companies have gone further still: one construction firm made headlines for offering 100 million won ($72,000) for every baby born to an employee, retroactively.

Leave policy changed too. In 2025 the government introduced the "6+6 Parental Leave Scheme", under which both parents are encouraged to take time off work after childbirth, with the second parent, typically the father, eligible for near full wage replacement if they take at least six months of leave. That's worth flagging to students: it's aimed squarely at fathers, because Korean fathers have historically not taken leave even when entitled to it.

Don't quote any of these won figures as permanent. Check hikorea.go.kr or your city's own site before class; the amounts move almost every budget cycle, and city-level programs especially can be cut or expanded with little notice.

Running the lesson (45 minutes)

1. Warm-up (5 min): "How many people in this room, if any, want kids?" Show of hands, no discussion.
2. Vocabulary check (5 min): use the handout list first.
3. Pair discussion (10 min): handout questions in pairs.
4. Pro/con debate (15 min): assign sides regardless of personal opinion.
5. Share-out (10 min): one sentence per pair, addressed to a policymaker.

We've watched a few students derail this debate in the best way, saying flatly that they don't want kids, money or no money. Let that run. It's usually the most honest five minutes of the class.