지방소멸시대에 대응한 한국과 일본의 청년정책 현황 -일자리정책을 중심으로-

Abstract

The total fertility rate in South Korea has been declining every year, from 0.81 in 2021 to 0.78 in 2022, according to Statistics Korea's 2023 Population Trends Survey, making it urgent for the government to respond to rural decline. The main cause of rural decline is the declining birth rate, which should increase if the employment rate is high. Japan has close historical and geographical ties to South Korea and is culturally and economically similar. This is why we looked at Japan, which experienced declining birthrates and rural decline. The total fertility rate was 2022 is 0.78 in Korea and 1.25 in Japan, and the employment rate was 27.1% in Korea and 46.5% in Japan for those aged 15 to 24. When comparing the job policies of Japan and South Korea, it is evident that Japan prioritizes employment services and offers tailored services by establishing a database of young individuals nationwide through an organization known as the Hello Work, which functions similarly to Korea's employment centers. When comparing Korea's and Japan's effective employment policies in 2015, Korea's employment service support was 10.10%, and Japan's was 45.28%. In 2015, Korea's direct job support, which was the most important part of Korea's job policy, was 57.10%, while Japan's was 5.92%. Thus, it is clear to see the difference between Korea's and Japan's job policies by comparing the numbers. Therefore, at a time when the country is facing a crisis of rural decline due to a declining birthrate that is faster than other countries, it is necessary to review the policies that have been implemented as usual from the beginning and shift to a targeted job policy by unifying the central and local youth-related databases with a command center calledm, such as Hello Work, as the centerpiece, thus focusing on employment service support like Japan.