South Korea Spends Least on Lifting Birthrates in OECD

South Korea spends the least amount of money on boosting birthrates among the world's most industrialized nations, a civic think tank said Thursday, pointing to the stingy investment as one of the biggest reasons why Koreans are refusing to have children.

Asia's fourth-largest economy spent 0.3 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 toward family benefits in cash, services and tax measures, according to the People's Institute of Economic&Social Studies (PIESS), citing data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

This is the smallest amount spent among 30 OECD member countries.

Luxembourg spent the most with the nation investing 3.6 percent of its GDP in improving family policies in 2005. Denmark came next with related expenditures totaling 3.4 percent, followed by the United Kingdom (3.2 percent), Sweden (3.2 percent) and Hungary (3.1 percent), according to the report.

The United States ranked second to last with the country allocating 0.6 percent of its GDP toward improving birthrates, behind Japan (0.8 percent), Canada and Mexico (1 percent).

OECD member nations spent an average of 2.1 percent of their GDP during the same year.

Participating in a debate evaluating the Lee Myung-bak administration's 2010 budget, PIESS officials said the government must aggressively expand spending to lift the country's birthrate next year, which is the lowest in the world for the second straight year.

According to the World Health Organization, a South Korean woman gives birth to 1.2 babies on average, based on statistics from 2007.