👶 Lessons on birth rates: Japan and South Korea

Two Asian nations grapple with demographic decline — one finding a tiny glimmer of hope, the other discovering unexpected economic resilience

My fellow pro-growth Up Wingers,

This is the kind of story about demographics that you rarely see. After nearly a decade in free-fall, South Korea's fertility rate — the average number of babies a woman is expected to have during her reproductive life — has finally nudged upwards, rising from 0.72 to 0.75 last year, according to new data. Though still the world's lowest and far below the 2.1 replacement threshold, this microscopic uptick has policymakers in Seoul cautiously optimistic that the country's demographic death spiral might be, well, if not reversing then at least slowing a bit, according to a Semafor piece.

What explains this modest revival?