SOUTH KOREA’S BABY TRAIN

South Korea has a population problem – their population is declining and they need to up their fertility rate and make more babies. When asked why they aren’t getting married and having kids, young Koreans are saying the long commutes to work and cramped, expensive housing puts a damper on the whole reproduction thing. The Korean government has come up with a solution – faster trains. The country is building a high-speed train service that will reduce the travel time between central Seoul and its outskirts. Project officials hope the faster commute times will encourage more youth to consider moving to homes outside the city, and give them more time to date and marry and boink and start having babies. The plan is to build six high-speed lines to the suburbs. The first section has just opened, cutting the commute time between Seoul and the suburb of Dongtan from 80 minutes by bus to 19 minutes by the new train.
* That’s an extra two hours a day. You could make a baby AND watch a couple episodes of Palm Royale.
* So after a worker takes the baby train then walks into their home, does their partner yell, “All aboard!”?
* Oops – the faster trains will make the suburbs more attractive, more people move there, and then the housing will be cramped and expensive again. Any other bright ideas?
* The declining population is leading to all sorts of problems – the labor shortage is making wages rise, you can get tickets to concerts, reservations to restaurants, amusement parks are less crowded … what a nightmare!