Reason for extremely low birthrate... South Korea: ”Marriage is a choice” Japan: ”We can't get married even if we want to” = South Korean reports

An analysis has revealed that while unmarried Korean women believe that "marriage is a choice," in Japan, the percentage of women who want to get married is high, but the reality is that it is difficult. In order to narrow the gap in birth rates between Japan and Korea, it is necessary to change the values regarding marriage.
According to a report titled "Characteristics, Causes, and Implications of the Birth Rate Gap Between Korea and Japan" by Byun Young-chan, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Social Policy, released on the 19th,
In Japan, the total fertility rate has stagnated at nearly 1.3 people, while South Korea's has continued to decline, reaching a level of 0.72 people by 2023. This is the only country in the world with an extremely low birth rate.
Byun found that the difference in birth rates between Korea and Japan can be attributed to the difference in the timing of marriage and childbirth. First, the birth rate for women in their 20s in Japan has slightly decreased, while in Korea it has decreased significantly.
Also, the marriage age in Korea has risen to 31.5 years old, while in Japan it has risen to 29.7 years old, but not as much as in Korea.
In addition, when looking at the views of young people in both Japan and Korea on marriage, a high percentage of unmarried women in Korea think that marriage is not a choice and that it is an option, whereas in Japan
In the case of Japan, it was analyzed that there are many cases where people want to get married but cannot. Byeon said, "As a nation with an extremely low birth rate, we must make increasing the birth rate our top priority and implement proactive policies to address the issue.
"South Korea must take into account these changes in age at first marriage, age at childbirth, and values regarding marriage when formulating and promoting policies to combat the declining birthrate."
In particular, to increase the birth rate among women in their 20s, policies are needed to remove obstacles to marriage and lower the age of first marriage.
He also argued that policies to increase the birth rate among married couples were necessary.