2022年12月02日 VOA慢速英語：韓國陷入人口危機，許多人停止生育

 

Many adults in South Korea have chosen either not to have children or not to marry. Similar things are happening in other developed countries, but many consider South Korea's population crisis severe.
韓國許多成年人要么選擇不生育，要么選擇不結婚。其他發(fā)達國家也發(fā)生了類似的事情，但許多人認為韓國的人口危機很嚴重。
 
A South Korean government agency announced in September that the total fertility rate reached 0.81 last year. The total fertility rate is the average number of babies born to each woman in their reproductive years. South Korea's fertility rate has been the world's lowest for three years now.
韓國政府機構9月宣布，去年的總和生育率達到0.81?？偤蜕适敲總€婦女在育齡期平均生育的嬰兒數(shù)。韓國的生育率已經(jīng)連續(xù)三年處于世界最低水平。
 
The population decreased for the first time in 2021. It raised concerns for severe damage to the economy. Some observers expect labor shortages and high spending on retirement payments as the number of older people increases while the number of taxpayers decreases.
人口在 2021 年首次減少。這引發(fā)了人們對經(jīng)濟嚴重受損的擔憂。一些觀察人士預計，隨著老年人數(shù)量增加而納稅人數(shù)量減少，將出現(xiàn)勞動力短缺和退休金支出高企的情況。
 
President Yoon Suk Yeol has ordered policymakers to find better ways to deal with the problem. The fertility rate, he said, is still decreasing although South Korea spent $210 billion over the past 16 years to increase it.
韓國總統(tǒng)尹錫烈已下令政策制定者尋找更好的方法來解決這個問題。他說，盡管韓國在過去 16 年中花費了 2100 億美元來提高生育率，但生育率仍在下降。
 
Many young South Koreans say that, unlike their parents and grandparents, they do not feel an obligation to have a family. Reasons some say for not having children include: a difficult job market, costly housing, inequality between the sexes, and social inequality.
許多年輕的韓國人說，與他們的父母和祖父母不同，他們不覺得有家庭的義務。有人說不生孩子的原因包括：就業(yè)市場困難、住房昂貴、性別不平等和社會不平等。
 
Some also say the high cost of raising children in a competitive society is a reason. Some women say men expect them to do much of the childcare while they face discrimination at work.
也有人說，在競爭激烈的社會中養(yǎng)育孩子的成本高也是一個原因.一些女性表示，她們在工作中面臨歧視時，卻希望男性承擔大部分的育兒工作。
 
Lee So-Young is a population policy expert at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. She said, "People think our country isn't an easy place to live." And she added, "They believe their children can't have better lives than them, and so question why they should bother to have babies."
Lee So-Young 是韓國衛(wèi)生與社會事務研究所的人口政策專家。她說，“人們認為我們的國家不是一個容易居住的地方。”她補充說，“他們認為他們的孩子不可能過上比他們更好的生活，所以質(zhì)疑他們?yōu)槭裁匆M心生孩子。”
 
Choi Yoon Kyung is an expert at the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education. She said many people who fail to enter good schools and get good jobs feel they have become "dropouts" who "cannot be happy." They feel that way even if they marry and have children because South Korea lacks social spending programs. She said South Korea failed to establish such programs during its economic growth in the 1960s to the 1980s.
Choi Yoon Kyung 是韓國兒童保育和教育研究所的專家。她說，很多沒能考上好學校、找不到好工作的人，覺得自己成了“無法幸福”的“輟學生”。即使他們結婚生子，他們也會有這種感覺，因為韓國缺乏社會支出計劃。她說，韓國在 1960 年代至 80 年代的經(jīng)濟增長期間未能建立此類計劃。
 
There are no official numbers on how many South Koreans have chosen not to marry or have children. But records from one national agency show there were about 193,000 marriages in South Korea last year. That is a big drop from the highest point of 430,000 in 1996.
沒有關于有多少韓國人選擇不結婚或不生孩子的官方數(shù)字。但一家國家機構的記錄顯示，去年韓國大約有 193,000 對婚姻。與 1996 年的最高點 430,000 相比大幅下降。
 
Agency information also says about 260,600 babies were born in South Korea last year, down from 691,200 in 1996. The highest level was 1 million babies in 1971. The recent numbers were the lowest since the agency began collecting such information in 1970.
機構信息還稱，去年韓國出生的嬰兒約為 260,600，低于 1996 年的 691,200。最高水平為 100 萬嬰兒1971 年。最近的數(shù)字是該機構自 1970 年開始收集此類信息以來的最低值。
 
Until the mid-1990s, South Korea had birth control programs, which the government started to slow the country's population increase after the Korean War. The government gave out birth control drugs and devices for free at public medical centers. It also offered men exemptions from some required military service if they had a medical operation that prevents fertility.
直到 20 世紀 90 年代中期，韓國才實行計劃生育計劃，政府在朝鮮戰(zhàn)爭后開始減緩該國的人口增長。政府在公共醫(yī)療中心免費發(fā)放避孕藥和裝置。如果男性接受了阻止生育的醫(yī)療手術，它還允許男性免除一些必要的兵役。
 
United Nations information shows that the average South Korean woman gave birth to about four to six children in the 1950s and ‘60s, three to four in the 1970s, and fewer than two by the mid-1980s.
聯(lián)合國的資料顯示，韓國女性在 1950 年代平均生育大約 4 到 6 個孩子， 60 年代，70 年代有三到四個，到 80 年代中期不到兩個。
 
South Korea has been offering different incentives and support programs for those who give birth to many children. But Choi said the fertility rate has been falling too fast to see any real effects. During a government meeting last month, officials said they would soon have to propose new measures to deal with the population decrease.
韓國一直在為生育多子的人提供不同的獎勵和支持計劃。但崔表示，生育率下降得太快，看不到任何實際影響。在上個月的一次政府會議上，官員們表示他們很快將不得不提出新的措施來應對人口減少的問題。
 
Yoo Young Yi is a financial worker in Seoul. She said that until she went to college, she strongly wanted a baby. But she changed her mind when she saw female coworkers concerned about their children or leaving early when their children were sick. She said her male coworkers did not have to do this. She said she then thought her ability to work would decrease if she had babies.
Yoo Young Yi 是首爾的一名金融工作者。她說，在她上大學之前，她非常想要一個孩子。但當她看到女同事關心孩子或孩子生病時提前離開時，她改變了主意。她說她的男同事不必這樣做。她說她當時認為如果她有了孩子，她的工作能力就會下降。
 
Her 34-year-old husband, Jo Jun Hwi, said he does not think having children is necessary. He works at an information technology company. Jo said he wants to enjoy his life after getting a job made him "feel like I was standing on the edge of a cliff."
她 34 歲的丈夫 Jo Jun Hwi 說他認為沒有必要生孩子。他在一家信息技術公司工作。 Jo 說他想在找到一份工作后享受生活，這讓他“感覺自己站在懸崖邊上。”
 
But 38-year-old Seo Ji Seong said she is often called a patriot by older people for having many babies although she has not thought of it that way. She is expecting her fifth baby in January.
但 38 歲的 Seo Ji Seong 說她經(jīng)常被稱為一個愛國者，因為她生了很多孩子，雖然她沒有這么想過。她將在一月份迎來她的第五個孩子。
 
Her husband said he enjoys seeing each of his children growing up, while Seo values their development at home.
她的丈夫說他很高興看到他的每個孩子都在成長，而Seo也很重視他們在家里的成長。
 
"They are all so cute. That's why I've kept giving birth to babies even though it's difficult," Seo added.
“他們都很可愛，這就是為什么我一直在生孩子，盡管很困難”徐補充道。