SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
South Korea's declining birth rate has caused some companies there to offer incentives to employees to have larger families. One of the country's biggest conglomerates, the Lotte Group, says it will offer families with three or more children a seven- to nine-seat family vehicle free. But wait, there's more.
The construction company Booyoung Group is offering employees a $75,000 bonus for each new child. The company says 66 employees have taken advantage of the bonus so far. And Booyoung's chair says he also wants to help families who have a third child with housing, ensuring, quote, "no tax burden and no maintenance responsibilities."
Those benefits sound generous, but companies who really want to encourage employees to have more children might offer the help of professional engineers to tackle the ultimate challenge of parenting - assembling a baby's crib. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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