Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Last December, sales of dog prams outpaced those of prams for babies in South Korea for the first time. The trend has held for the first six months of 2024, says the WSJ – top end models can go for $1,100 – in a country home to one of the world’s lowest birth rates. “What I worry about is young people not loving each other,” Kim Moon-soo, now the labour minister, said last year. “Instead, they love their dogs and carry them around, they don’t get married, and they don’t have children.” South Korea is throwing money at the problem of its low fertility rates, considering handouts worth $70,000 per baby. But it’s not working. The article itself points to a small hint: pet-friendly venues are proliferating, while restaurants and cafes are increasingly “no-kid zones” because of the associated disruption. File under: pick a side.
