commentary series, sanders valley africa to meet the founders. empowering their continent through digital innovation. transforming work in health and living conditions in their country, pending spirally, the world with their ideas. valley africa watch. now on w documentary, this is the dublin years, asia coming up to date. why south korea has registered the lowest fertility rate in the world. the number of babies expected woman has dropped to point 78. it's part of a trend observed over more than a decade. what's driving it and can be reversed. and how full, who in the luxury of an in house bathroom is helping some talk a resident,

save on their monthly rent. ah, i'm british manager, welcome to the dublin years, asia, glad you could join us. south korea is mocking a grim milestone this week. new data shows the country's fertility rate has dropped to a record. no. south korea already had the lowest number of births but woman in the world. but last year that fell again. the average number of expect to baby's po, woman of reproductive age, dropped from point 81 in 2021 to point 78. in 2022, that is far lower than in other we c d countries which have an average rate of 1.59 . and correspondence. frank smith asked people in soule why they thought the fertility rate in south korea was low. somebody has to still take care of their

children, but because it's so difficult to earn money at the same time and raise kids, people are just choosing not to go through all that trouble in the 1st place to move her video to a lot of younger people just want to enjoy their lives, which is why a lot of married couples don't have children and instead have talk school. i run by raising dogs instead they want to lessen their burdens. because and i, if you raise a child, you have to spend a lot financially and economically ballpark was when you the call your autotech 30 salty mom called to called little to solve. the reason why a thing to low birthrate problem has not been solve despite there being numerous policies implemented is because they're not thinking much about child care. cook a single that all, all will ye souls already more? they all so no either because as the population continues to age, there will be

a need for more support for the increasing older generations. and to resolve these issues, i believe we need to give birth to children order, take out a loan on either one of my own books, madonica. and joining me now for more context is journalist and author how and john miss john, welcome. why our south korean women having fewer babies? well, there are a lot of reasons behind. a lot of reasons behind south korea, persuade prices. there are, there is a high high housing fight. they've been making a lot of young people to have a place to live and buy the place to live together. or there are no of course i'll try to varying that make a lot of young people to give up with the idea of having a child to begin with. and there is no working hours that a lot of the career long working hours that make a lot of young people to think that, rightfully so,

that the having what life fellow, it's almost impossible to have including having a child. and having of korea is the same time, but there is also a very one factor behind this crisis. is that the, the agenda inequality is that is very deeply ingrained in the country, family, culture, family life, the extreme need, disproportionate part of childcare and domestic responsibility on this women. and also coupled with the ramp for discrimination against women, especially married women and working mothers in a lot of places makes a lot of young women to shunt the child for and even many joyce together. let's talk about a lot of those factors and, but let's talk about them separately. adapt to pick up the issue of gender inequality and discrimination that you mentioned here. and you are somebody who's reported extensively on south korea's feminist, but you're also the author of an upcoming book about that very subject. flowers of

fire is all of these combining together and forming a link between the loading fertility rate in south korea. oh yes. south korea, maybe externally, no one has a very advanced country, economically technologically, and also in terms of the pop culture as well. but the country also at the same time has relatively poor recurse on the news status in society, especially in both places. the country has supported the biggest gender pay gap on the we see the member nations every single year for the 26 years. and the country has been also ranked at the bottom of the so called the less silly index that shows how hard it is to be a working woman, you know, certain country and also what plays differently. yeah, i'm just don't understand. this is john. i mean, we talk about soccer and as you go to pointed out, it's

a modern economy or has been for many decades. there are what you are talking about is essentially a very, very patriarchal and a very conservative mindset. how has that not changed and improved? well, there were a lot of reasons behind that. us now state the country has basically achieved this economic growth in political democratization. that cracked ok, since you were so gross and democratization that has was this was a chip in some countries within the span of just a few decades. and despite all the offences made in terms of politics or economy, or in terms of technology, certain cultural norms, they take more time one more time to adjust and change. and somehow this deeply engrained a patriarchal value in the countries family. life remains relatively means change. it changed at

a relatively small pace. you talked about what you talked about the sky high housing prices for example. and if you have benefits to support people to have families, you're talking about a patriarchal mindset. i'm wondering all of these external fact of the things that the government can help with. does the government not do this or not health because it'll always primarily be male oriented. yeah, i mean the thing is the south korean government has been spending hundreds of millions of dollars for the past decade to boost the birth rate. and in the monthly importance of the stuff to the for the newly newly with couples who have chosen on or and then you will have more than 4 feet children. but the thing is, a lot of government before 10 subsidies and policies and benefits are based on this very tree. mother of left, they had

a traditional heterosexual couples who are officially married. and these were benefits leave out. a lot of people who are outside the boundaries of the traditional marriage, for instance, on married couples. they think of people who live together without getting married, but to want to have a child. or think, think this couple the support you information. mary gives to legally korea and all the things we mean who wants to have a child without a male nurse and a lot of governments. of course these can you see the government does this offering on the government? it's not opening the same level of support or if at all, to those people who are outside the boundary of the tradition of fiction marriage. and there have been a lot of criticism that the problem with the, for the ortho side or support in general have not checked the pace for the tech

pace with changing bethaly change your voice. if people who are racing are wider or more diverse form of her companionship and family very think very briefly, or if this, when the change in the near future in the near future, it is really hard to say. more of the re says is that the, if gender, you color in your quality and family life and appropriate life, is that the core of this birth rate crisis, the government, the front face, then, you know, i has wrote to power next year hussy all to me and pay feminist, take them in their platform. and he declared the way he came in famously declared the gender discrimination no longer existed in the country. and he also promised to dismantle their gender equality ministry, the have that had played a people role in promoting remaining society or gender policy in the country.

and, and also the government recently, the chances of plants who recognize a wider range of companionship and family, which was really at the core of the problem in south korea. so i'm not sure if the government is ready to embrace this, the structural and fundamental changes that i needed to both the country, but for a long time and the short time as well. right, we'll have to leave the unfortunately, but thank you so much for joining us today. have on john. if you're having me, ah. hi renting costs in tokyo have for some to sacrifice. what many consider basic comforts like about the room? turns out you can rent places in tokyo that don't have about room and therefore pay less. well, that also means is you have to rely on a communal bathroom. but that's not necessarily

a bad thing. space is a luxury in the world's largest metropolitan area. nearly 40000000 people live in and around tokyo, japan, most of them have their own bathroom at home. though not so tie, say, but suda, his home has a table, a bed, a clothes rack, and almost nothing more. it's just 18 square meters. depth, i need to say and that includes a toilet. he calls this single wash tub his kitchens and they don't bother looking for a bathroom here. my little one thing he thought i got, i don't feel restricted by the us. gov buds cook go. everything i need is close by . go mad. suda pays a base rent of just $280.00 euros a month. his washing facilities are outside his front door in the co, angie residential district. the proximity to our public bath house from the 19

thirty's was the reason he moved here. japanese santo baths like this one, have been threatened with extinction, but they're being kept alive by people like met suda. he loves his bath house but also has why fi and a shared office for members. and on the 1st floor, a communal kitchen which might suit a uses almost daily apartment broker, not suca shima is seeing increased interest from younger clientele. no. and what i like the idea is that you don't have to own things if you can, shad them at them like game without refrigerator because as a supermarket next door, sadie, key to this sharing mentality is becoming more white spreadsheet. upon dosma, living free and unattached doesn't mean being without a community here tie, say, matt suda doesn't miss having his own bathroom your then i

found a new kind of happiness so that i didn't know before. oh, for me. other things are more important now. they're the center public bath house as a meeting place. it's an old idea that starting to feel fresh again. and that does it for today. there's more stories from the region on our website. and as i advise you can always follow us on facebook and twitter back again tomorrow at the same time. and so you've been with these places in europe for smashing in the records, stepped into a bold adventure. it's the treasure map for modern globetrotters. discover some of you up to record breaking sites on google maps, youtube and now also in book form. sometimes

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his budget and the shorter work we've proved that long and benefit if i'm a major trial in the u. k, it's being hailed as a subset. this is the w business. i'm janelle dumas on. welcome central bankers and finance officials from the world's top 20 economies are gathering in india's tack capital bank larue, global debt troubles, and default risks are headlining the agenda. india plans to ask lenders including the world's largest sovereign credit or china, to take a large haircut on loans. several countries in the global south have seen their ability to pay down debt compromised by inflation. following the pandemic and the war and ukraine as the host nation, india will be aiming to present itself as the leader of the global self, as a jockeys with.