Andong Hears the Cry of Babies Again

71 Births Recorded in March
Impact of Practical, Everyday Childcare Policies

The “City That’s Good for Raising Children” policy promoted by Andong City, North Gyeongsang Province, is demonstrating tangible results in addressing the low birthrate, as evidenced by a clear rebound in birth statistics. Experts note that Andong’s meticulously designed care policies, which go beyond mere slogans and allow parents to feel the benefits in their daily lives, have led to a concrete increase in the number of births.

Andong City Sees a Jump to 71 Births in March: Experience-Based Care Policies Drive Reversal of Low Birthrate.

On April 15, Andong City announced that the average number of births per month in the first quarter of this year was 61, marking a 25.1% increase compared to the previous year. According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s resident registration statistics, the city’s monthly average number of births in 2025 was 48.75, but this year the numbers rose to 57 in January, 55 in February, and 71 in March.

Notably, the 71 births recorded in March far exceeded the previous year’s monthly average, and both local and wider communities see this as a significant rebound rather than a temporary fluctuation. The cumulative number of births in the first quarter reached 183, representing an increase of nearly 50% compared to the same period last year. This supports the analysis that Andong City’s policies to address the low birthrate are beginning to show measurable effectiveness.

Driving this change are Andong City’s “11 Core Childcare Projects.” The city has implemented practical, everyday support measures to ease parents’ burdens, such as reducing the child-to-teacher ratio in daycare centers, installing AI food scanners, launching dishwashing projects for daycare meal trays, running communal parenting camping programs, operating 24-hour daycare centers, linking senior centers with child care, providing hospital escort services for sick children, offering seasonal imaginative play programs, expanding childcare services, operating a specialized infant class at communal parenting centers, and waiving annual membership fees for the Comprehensive Childcare Support Center and the Toy Library.

These initiatives go beyond one-time birth incentives and instead focus on making Andong a city where parents feel safe and confident to raise children after birth. The policies are designed to reduce the care gaps, financial burdens, and time constraints that parents most acutely feel during the childcare process, setting them apart from conventional low birthrate policies.

Andong City is not stopping here. This year, the city plans to allocate 2 billion won from the Local Extinction Response Fund to pursue a qualitative leap in childcare policies. Plans include remodeling existing infrastructure to create the “Andong-style Mother Center”—a facility that integrates care, play, education, and experiential functions—operating shared buses for experiential learning, installing children’s safe boarding zones in apartment complexes, and expanding the AI robot rental business, all aimed at further advancing the childcare environment.

This approach goes beyond simply increasing the birth count; it is also a strategy to create living conditions that address the challenges of population decline and the risk of local extinction. Recognizing that the process of childbirth and child-rearing is directly linked to a city’s future competitiveness, Andong’s policy experiment may serve as a model for other regional cities facing similar demographic challenges.

An official from Andong City stated, “The figure of 71 births in March reflects the valuable choices made by citizens who trust Andong’s childcare environment. Going forward, we will continue to build an environment where parents can feel secure and children can grow up happy, creating a vibrant Andong filled with children’s laughter.”

While it is still too early to declare this a long-term trend, what is clear is that the rebound in birthrate did not start with grand slogans, but with the reorganization of care systems embedded in daily life. Ultimately, the solution to the low birthrate lies not in policies that simply encourage numbers, but in building trust so that parents feel, “This is a city where I can raise a child.” In this respect, Andong’s changes offer meaningful implications.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.