WHAT IF UNEMPLOYMENT COULD BE A GOOD THING?

Min-soo and Ji-young Kim are 67 and 65 years old respectively.

- Colin Iles

They live in Incheon, South Korea. They don’t have children. They never felt like they could afford them.

Both were lucky enough to work through the AI revolution of the 2030s, Min-soo as a logistics coordinator and Ji-young as a care provider.

But for these zoomers (people born between 1997 and 2012), the future looks grim.

For one thing, they won’t be retiring anytime soon. South Korea raised the statutory retirement age to 75 back in 2048 to ease pressure on the collapsing pension system. Even so, their payouts will be minimal.

The National Pension Fund, once one of the largest in the world, was depleted a decade ago. Their private savings were never enough, squeezed by rising costs and a lifetime of economic anxiety.

Their neighborhood is quieter now. Most of their peers moved to the megacities or passed away. Schools nearby are shuttered. Buses run less frequently. What used to be a bustling urban hub is slowly turning into a ghost town.

And they are the lucky ones.

The Kims' story is a glimpse into South Korea's future—and possibly the future of much of the world.

What's the cause?

Global warming? War? Artificial Intelligence?

Actually, it’s far simpler. We are just not having enough children.

For a population to remain stable, you need 2.1 children per woman.