Korean firm offers $75,000 bonus to employees with newborns

SEOUL, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- In an effort to help South Korea revive its ultra-low fertility rate, a Seoul construction company announced it will begin offering a $75,000 bonus to employees each time they have a new baby.

Seoul-based builder Booyoung held an event Monday, where it awarded a total of $5.25 million for 70 babies born since 2021 to its workers.

"If the low fertility rate continues, our country could face an existential crisis in 20 years," Booyoung Chairman Lee Joong-keun said during the gathering.

"The low birth rate is believed to be due to the financial burdens related to rearing children and the difficulties of maintaining a work-family balance. Hence the reason why we decided to introduce the special benefits," he said.

An increasing number of Korean companies and regional governments have been proposing similar policies.

Kumho Petrochemical said last month that it has started awarding bonuses of up to $15,000 to employees for every newborn.

For the first baby, the amount is $3,800, going up to $7,600 for the second child, $11,000 for the third and then topping off at $15,000 for the fourth.

Pharmaceutical firm Yuhan Corp. began awarding a $7,600 bonus for each new child. In case of twins, the award is doubled.

Construction management company HanmiGlobal started recently promoting in-house any employee with three or more children.

The company also allows workers to have extended maternal or paternal leave of up to two years. It also gives a $3,800 bonus to any employee with a third child and $7,600 for a fourth.

Regional governments are also competing to channel funds toward encouraging people to have more children.

A government in Yeongdong County, some 75 miles south of Seoul, has promised to give more than $90,000 to a family over a five-year period following the birth of a child

South Korea's fertility rate has been plunging, falling to 0.72 last year - meaning that for every 100 women, only 72 babies are expected to be born.

South Korea has remained at the bottom of the world's fertility rate since 2013, with the total population dropping almost 1% each year in the last three years.