the front lines she has, her son has been liberated by ukrainian forces. the residents are living in fear of a fresh russian on stewart watching j. w. a news coming up next in d. w. news, asia. why women and south korea all having a few a babies and how using a public boss can save on the rent in tokyo stories more coming up next sunday, w news, asia with their ash vanity. i'm a new cubes. makennan. thank you very much for being with us for what people have to say matters to us. mm. mm. that's why we listen to their stories. reporter every weekend on

d. w. jan the has had 1111 north single woman. mission is to defend the 1st female jim and i saw his face the gender gap in space exploration. germany's 1st female astronaut, it has been waiting for years to get her turn of private initiative is pushing to make it happen. ah, destiny for space starts march 8th on d, w. this is the, the other there's a shark coming up today. why south korea has registered the lowest facility rate in the world. the number of babies expected one has dropped 2.78. it's bought, if a trend observed over more than a decade, what's driving it? i'm kind of be reversed. and how fall viewing the luxury of in house bathroom is

helping some took a residence to save on their monthly rent. ah . i 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 law. south korea already had the lowest number of births per 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 see the countries which have an average rate of 1.59 and a corresponding frank smith asked people in soule why is 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 rang 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 core your autotech 30 salty mom called to cause little to solve the reason why a thing to low birth rate 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 all the more they all so no, i did it 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 and i got a lot on higher bidder on in my uncle to hold on me. 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, birth rate prices. there are, there is a high high housing prices. they make it not for 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 low 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 like fellows, it's almost impossible to have including having a child and having a career 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 burden, childcare and domestic responsibility on women. and also coupled with the ramp and discrimination against women, especially married women and working mothers in a lot of places, makes a lot of young women to shunt the type or, and even men join together. let's talk about a lot of those factors and, but let's talk about them separately 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 and south korea. oh yes. ask we are maybe, externally no one has a very nice country, economically, technologically, and also in terms of the pop culture as well. but the country also at the same time, has relatively poor requests on the new status in society, especially in what places the country has supported the biggest gender pay gap. 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 i don't believe differently. yeah, i'm just, i don't understand. this is john. i mean, we talk about soccer and as you go to pointed out, it's

a modern economy 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 what they were out? a lot of reasons behind that us now say the country has basically achieved this economic growth in political democratization. that cracked ok. since you want to stop gross and democratization that has was, this was a chip in some countries within the span of just a few decades. and despite all these 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 is deeply ingrained a patriarchal value in the countries family life remains relatively means change. it changed at

a relatively small pace and 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 factor, the things that the government can help with. does the government not do this or not health because it is always primarily been 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 where the couples who have chosen on or and then you will have more than one feature i'm seeing is a lot of governments before 10 subsidies and policies and benefits are based on this very treat 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 say 66 couples, the support you information, think marriage is to illegally south korea and all the things we mean who wants to have a child without a major partner and a lot of government support these can you see the government does this offering on the government not to bring the same level of support or if at all to those people who are outside the boundary of the traditional sexual marriage. and there have been a lot of criticism that the problem of the, for the ortho side or support in general have not checked the pace for the tech

pace with changing bethaly change the voice of people who are racing. well why there are more diverse form of her companionship and family? very think very briefly, or if there's been a change in the near future in the near future, it is really hard to say more of the research is gender and you call 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, their platform. and he declared when 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 technically gender in the country and, and also the government. recently, the chancellor plan to recognize the wider range of companionship and family, which was really at the core of the problem is south korea. so i'm not sure if the government is ready to embrace this. the structural and fundamental changes that i needed to was the country for a long time and a short time as well. and even the unfortunately, but thank you so much for joining us today. how long 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, same at suda. his home has a table, a bed, a clothes rack, and almost nothing more. it's just 18 square meters. definitely. and that includes a toilet, he calls this single wash tub, his kitchens, and they don't bother looking for a bathroom here. why they won't be sitting on. i don't feel restricted by thus got buds. cook go. everything i need is close by. go mad suit a 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 other than like game without refrigerator because as a supermarket next door, sadie, key to the sharing mentality is becoming more white spreadsheet. upon living, free and unattached doesn't mean being without a community here tie, same at suda doesn't miss having his own bathroom. you are then

i found a new kind of happiness that i didn't know before for me. other things are more important now that the center public bath house as a meeting place. it's an old idea that starting to feel fresh again. and that doesn't for to there is more stories from the region on our website. and as ever, you can always follow us on facebook and twitter. we're back again tomorrow. at the same time with you, been with rabbit's view between a, an official and does things peninsula, one of the most beautiful coastal regions in the state of mecklenburg, western palmer, rain, others long beach is a wild forest and cute little fishing town maritime mixed

with particularly in the new season ticket next on d w as you've got any issues or thoughts they will grade. he will be with people with with .