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Ilsanman
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea
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 Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 3:45 pm Post subject: The reason for Korea's low birth rate |
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I have always said on this board that Korea was a cheap place to live (save a few certain items), but now I have seen the light.
I was just back in my hometown last week, and I was shocked to see the price differences. Before coming to Korea, I lived with mom and dad, so I never really knew the price of groceries.
My wife just about croaked when she saw Gerber baby food for 50-60 cents a jar. Here, it's over $2.50 a jar. And that's not just Gerber. Any brand name. A baby's playpen. 190,000 won here. $50 back home.
Oh, I'm just getting started. Baby products in particular are 2-5x more expensive here. And once again, this is not just imports. Korean and Japanese brands too.
Fruit, vegetables, you name it. Totally overpriced. I almost croaked last night when I saw 2 L of milk going for 3800 won. That's more expensive than gasoline.
This place is rapidly becoming unaffordable to live. |
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xingyiman
Joined: 12 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 3:51 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah prices here are a bit high on lots of whings especially imported. But on 3 Million a month it's a whole lot easier to go to the store and buy those $2.50 gerber baby foods than it is to buy the 50 cent ones back home when you are making $1200 a month  |
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Leslie Cheswyck
Joined: 31 May 2003
Location: University of Western Chile
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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| And let's not forget the apartments whatever the price. How many kids can you stuff into a 30py apartment? |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:30 pm Post subject: |
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| The stuff made with Chinese milk is pretty cheap. |
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Faunaki
Joined: 15 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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| bassexpander wrote: |
| The stuff made with Chinese milk is pretty cheap. |
Ohhhh bad joke
OP, I've heard that baby stuff is crazy expensive. 2.50 for a bottle of food? Unbelievable. We're trying for a baby and saw that a western crib starts from 200 up. What????
We live with our MIL who is a super thrifty ajumma so I'm curious to see what she suggests food wise, etc. as I know she will not let us spend that much for a bottle of food, let alone hundreds for cribs, etc. |
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Justin Hale
Joined: 24 Nov 2007
Location: the Straight Talk Express
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:46 pm Post subject: Re: The reason for Korea's low birth rate |
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| Relative to the cost of average earnings, Korea is by and away the most expensive country I've ever seen. Groceries in Emart are essentially the same price as Marks and Spencer in the UK (which is considered upmarket and expensive even by UK standards). |
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Ilsanman
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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Sure, you can make your own stuff, but our daughter threw it up 3 times so we sort of gave up on that idea.
My mother has run a home daycare for 35 years, so I consider her an expert. She showed us how overprotective the Korean way is. We were told by 'experts' that kiwi, strawberries, cheese, OJ, Cheerios, etc were dangerous at this age. Now she's loving all of it, losing her baby fat, and looks healthier than ever. |
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Ruraljuror
Joined: 08 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| We live with our MIL |
This makes me sad  |
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Frankly Mr Shankly
Joined: 13 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 6:52 pm Post subject: |
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| xingyiman wrote: |
| Yeah prices here are a bit high on lots of whings especially imported. But on 3 Million a month it's a whole lot easier to go to the store and buy those $2.50 gerber baby foods than it is to buy the 50 cent ones back home when you are making $1200 a month |
I agree with this, what it comes down to is your earnings vis a vis the cost of living. The need to have a car, pay rent etc. back home takes a larger chunk of your salary. Overall, though, the cost of living for people in both working and middle class homes worldwide is going up due to the price of oil. Let's not forget that that produce has to be shipped to market and Korea produces no oil of its own. |
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Kimchi Cha Cha
Joined: 15 May 2003
Location: was Suncheon, now Brisbane
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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Completely off-topic but I've just gotta say I love your choice of avatars, Frankly Mr. Shankly.
I've always why that handsome, big jacketed, pink lipsticked dude was so riled up against us guys to start up that nasty club of his. Did his old girl leave him for some big-nose action. |
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Ilsanman
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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And who makes $1200 a month back at home?
In my hometown, you can make more than that working at McDonalds. They pay $10.75 an hour to start. |
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Frankly Mr Shankly
Joined: 13 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Kimchi Cha Cha wrote: |
Completely off-topic but I've just gotta say I love your choice of avatars, Frankly Mr. Shankly.
I've always why that handsome, big jacketed, pink lipsticked dude was so riled up against us guys to start up that nasty club of his. Did his old girl leave him for some big-nose action. |
Must have done. Apparently he marched into the Ilsan Police Station and demanded the arrest of all foreigners involved in the infamous Englishspectrumgate controversy. They responded saying that as far as they were concerned, no laws had been broken. Oh to be present at that moment in time and to have a device that could have measured the latent 'Han' in the air. Oh yeah, that and his online name was "Calpis". Classic. |
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sojourner1
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Location: Where meggi swim and 2 wheeled tractors go sput put chug alugg pug pug
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Ilsanman wrote: |
And who makes $1200 a month back at home?
In my hometown, you can make more than that working at McDonalds. They pay $10.75 an hour to start. |
Lots of people. Yea, things are much cheaper in America, but jobs pay peanuts. Those $8/hour jobs (most jobs) only pay about $280 take home pay per week if putting in 40 hours which is only about $1100 to $1200 take home per month with little to no benefits whatsoever. If you have health insurance, you will pay 15% to 25% of your gross pay and then it's usually has high co-pays with a high deductible. In the Midwest expect about $7 per hour at fast food and $7 to $9 for retail sales and customer service. People are practically fighting over these low opportunity jobs as so many are desperate to make a living. The big cities like New York, LA, Chicago, Miami, and others might pay $10 to $12 per hour for retail and fast food work, but that's peanuts compared to the high cost of living. It's much more difficult to live in the city as everything is much more expensive compared to pay. City or small town, these are not living wages; these are the years of people working to have a little to no chance of escaping poverty and dire straights.
During 2006, I worked at a Dillard's department store for $8/hour along with co-workers who all had bachelors degrees and a few with masters. This is how tight and lean this day and age is. Things have been really bad since and getting worse since around 2001.
Korea is tough too with it's high prices, but surely pay is higher for most people. It seems that a household on it's own with no employer housing would need 5 to 10 million won a month just to live. Of course, it's anticipated that young adults are helped by their parents all the way through middle age. Sucks for those who are on their own. I thought I had it hard in America with parents who never owned a pot to piss in; Korea would be brutal. |
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Real Reality
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 8:26 pm Post subject: Re: The reason for Korea's low birth rate |
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| Ilsanman wrote: |
I have always said on this board that Korea was a cheap place to live (save a few certain items), but now I have seen the light.
I was just back in my hometown last week, and I was shocked to see the price differences.....
This place is rapidly becoming unaffordable to live. |
Reminds me of another post:
Prices Increasing; Reduced Income; Way Too Expensive
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=109029&start=135 |
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samd
Joined: 03 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 11:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Some things are more expensive here, some thigns are cheaper. As long as I can go out and get a good meal for under $5 I will consider Korea to be a cheap place to live. |
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