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No kids zones - 2nd August 2023
South Korea’s population isn’t growing. People aren’t having enough children. The government wants this to change. They’re giving money to families to have children. But they don’t want children in public spaces.
Yong Hye-in works for the government. She had a baby.
Yong Hye-in: "(The male-dominated government) wants to boost birth rates and are scared the low birth rate will lead to a disappearing South Korea. But they also prefer it if the noisy, difficult and painful process of raising a child be done separately, somewhere out of sight, on a remote island."
In Seoul, 'No Kids Zones’ are popular. Children can’t be in public spaces. They should be quiet. Yong Hye-in couldn't visit her favourite places with her baby. She felt bad. The city’s becoming unfriendly to families.
Yong Hye-in: "I had now become this person who could be so easily rejected — at places like restaurants, cafes, bars and movie theatres. I felt like I had been expelled from society. I remember crying so much on my way home."
'No Kids Zones' are common in Seoul. Officials say children are too noisy. Parents don’t control their kids in public. Yong Hye-in works in the National Assembly. They didn’t give her time off work as a new mother.
Yong’s the leader for the Basic Income Party. They want to give everyone equal pay and help poor people. They want to help families too. Yong thinks this can help South Korea’s population grow again.
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