Trendspotting: Seoul Turns to Baby Bonuses

NewsWire: 1/25/22

• Seoul is giving new mothers $1,650 in cash vouchers for each baby born in 2022. This is on top of existing baby bonuses that the South Korean government has already announced. (Insider)
• NH: For the last few years, South Korea has had the lowest TFR in the world (0.84). And the national government has continued to ramp up its pronatalist policies to minimal effect. (See “South Korea's Falling Fertility Keeps Breaking Records” and “South Korea Turns to AI for Infertility Treatment.”)
• Now city governments are taking the situation into their own hands. Seoul, which has the lowest TFR of any South Korean administrative division (0.64), has announced it will give parents 2M won ($1,650) in cash vouchers for each child born in 2022. Parents must use the money by the end of the year, and it can't be spent at "entertainment and leisure establishments." These vouchers would be in addition to the 1M won ($837) the national government has promised new mothers. 
• I suspect payments of this size won't do much to raise the city's fertility rate. We have extensively written on the cultural drivers keeping South Korea’s TFR low. And it would take a significant amount of money to address these causes. (See “South Korea's Total Fertility Rate Falls Below One.”) Just look at China, where an economist recently suggested the country would need to spend a whopping $20k per newborn child to boost fertility. (See "Will China Print $315B to Boost Fertility?")