World's oceans warming at alarming rate, scientists say

South Korea’s birth rate is so low, one company offers staff a $75,000 incentive to have children

Seoul — South Korea’s overall birth rate hit a record low of 0.72 in 2023, and with that figure projected to fall even further in 2024, some Korean businesses have started offering remarkably generous incentives to convince their workers to become parents.

“The declining fertility rate leads to a decline in the workforce and purchasing power and slowing economic growth, which in turn directly affects the sustainability of corporate management, meaning companies need to actively address the issue,” Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) president Chul Chung said recently at a Korean-Japanese business seminar dedicated to the topic.

Jin Sung Yoo, a senior research fellow at KERI, said the main reason for South Korea’s worryingly low birth rate was the “effect on career progression” associated with having children.

Many solutions were discussed at the seminar, and some eye-opening incentives have been announced in recent weeks.

The Lotte Group, a massive cross-industry conglomerate, said it had found success through “various in-house family-friendly policies.” The company said the existing program had helped push the internal birth rate among employees up to 2.05 during 2022, no small feat when the national average was 0.81.

Ok-keun Cho, head of corporate culture at the Lotte Group, said starting this year, the company would also be offering employees with three or more children a 7-9 seat family vehicle, free of charge.

The most generous parenthood incentive, however, is likely the one for workers at the construction and housing group Booyoung, which has been offering employees a $75,000 bonus for each new child they parent.

So far, the company says 66 employees have taken advantage — at a cost to Booyoung of about $5 million.

Company chairman Lee Joong Keun said he sees it as an investment in the nation’s future, warning that if the birth rate continues to fall, “Korea will face a crisis of national existence 20 years from now, including a decline in the economically productive population and a shortage of defense personnel to ensure national security and maintain order.”

Why U.S. births are decreasing

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Under South Korea’s rules, $75,000 is the largest handout a parent can receive without having to pay additional tax on the month. But Booyoung’s boss said he wanted to go even further, announcing that he would work to help provide employees who become the parent of a third child with “housing with no tax burden on tenants and no maintenance responsibilities.”

The construction company chief said he was hoping to get the South Korean government to agree to provide the land necessary for his plans.

Meanwhile, city officials have said that Seoul’s local government plans to invest more than $1.3 billion during 2024 in the Birth Encouragement Project, an upgrade to an existing incentive policy.

The project has been largely focused on helping South Korean’s maintain their careers around family planning, but it’s been expanded to make more people eligible for the benefits, and those benefits now include infertility treatment and more childcare services.

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Black men have lowest melanoma survival rate compared to other races, study finds

Men with melanoma, particularly Black men, are more likely to die than women with melanoma, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Comparing data from the National Cancer Database from 2004 to 2018, the analysis of more than 200,000 people found the 5-year survival rate in men with melanoma was highest for White men, at around 75%, compared to Black men, who ranked the lowest, with a survival rate of 52%. American Indian/Alaskan Native (69%), Asian (68%) and Hispanic (66%) men fell in between.

The study also showed that men of color were more likely to have melanoma diagnosed at an advanced stage, making it more difficult to treat. Even when adjusted for factors like income level and insurance coverage, Black race alone increased mortality risk compared to the White population, the study found.

Melanoma causes more than 9,000 deaths per year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC data also show rates of male mortality for melanoma, of all races, are more than double that of females of all races.

“We know that men may be less likely to seek medical care than women, so they can be diagnosed with melanoma at later stages,” dermatologist and co-author of the study Ashley Wysong, founding chair of the Department of Dermatology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said in a news release. “However, even after accounting for later stages at diagnosis, men still have worse overall survival rates than women with melanoma, so we suspect that there are some unmeasured social, genetic, tumor-specific and potentially biological factors at play, such as hormones and the way the immune system responds to melanoma tumors.”

Dr. Alix Charles, chairman of dermatology at Duly Health and Care, told CBS News, “Unfortunately Black Americans are less likely to carry private insurance. They’re less likely to be able to have access to quality healthcare in their neighborhoods and in their communities.”

If detected early, the five-year survival rate for melanoma is 99%, according to the American Cancer Society. But that figure drops down to 32% once the melanoma has spread to other organs.

While it has been known that skin cancer is increasing among all Americans, with specific rises in men and people of color, this is the largest study to date to look specifically at the role of race among men with melanoma.

“We hope our research can lay the foundation for future studies to determine why there’s such a gap in survival rates, and to make headway to reduce these survival rate gaps,” Wysong said.

Steps to protect yourself from skin cancer

The American Academy of Dermatology says to reduce your risk, wear sunscreen and sun-protective clothing and watch for changes to your skin.

“If you have a spot on your skin that has looked the same your whole life and suddenly the edges might look different or the color changes, if the size changes, that’s an important factor,” Dr. Maral Kibarian Skelsey, dermatologist and director of the Dermatologic Surgery Center of Washington, previously told CBS News.

It’s also recommended that everyone above age 18 get an annual skin examination.

Detroit Lions defensive lineman Josh Paschall was a sophomore playing for the University of Kentucky when he saw a strange mark on the bottom of his foot. It turned out to be a rare form of melanoma, and Paschall needed multiple surgeries and immunotherapy to remove it.

“If you see anything that’s abnormal, get that checked out,” he told CBS News.

“The thing that’s unique about skin cancer — it’s so common, but it’s also so preventable,” Dr. Elizabeth Hale, associate professor of dermatology at NYU Langone and senior vice president of the Skin Cancer Foundation previously told CBS News.

About 90% of skin cancers are associated with sun exposure, which makes protection important, Hale added.

“We recommend a broad spectrum SPF 30 or higher, and it’s important to think about sunscreen every single day. It’s not just enough when going to the beach or pool because we know that some damage is cumulative,” she says. “When you’re outside, you want to reapply every two hours — even more if you’re sweating or swimming. Getting people to wear it every day is the real goal.”

— Errol Barnett contributed reporting.

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Federal Reserve official says more U.S. rate hikes likely will be needed to bring down inflation

The U.S. Federal Reserve will likely need to raise interest rates further to bring down inflation, Governor Michelle Bowman said on Saturday.

Bowman said she supported the Fed’s quarter-point increase in interest rates last month, given still-high inflation, strong consumer spending, a rebound in the housing market and a labor market that is helping to feed higher prices.

“I also expect that additional rate increases will likely be needed to get inflation on a path down to the FOMC’s 2 percent target,” she said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Kansas Bankers Association, referring to the Fed’s rate-setting panel, the Federal Open Market Committee.

Monetary policy is not on a “preset course,” she also said, and data will drive future decisions.

“We should remain willing to raise the federal funds rate at a future meeting if the incoming data indicate that progress on inflation has stalled.”

Bowman has frequently expressed views that are more hawkish than some of her colleagues.

In forecasts published in June, most Fed policymakers expected to end the year with the Fed policy rate at 5.6%, one quarter-point hike above the setting established at the Fed’s late-July meeting.

Bowman’s use of the plural “rate increases” in her remarks on Saturday indicates she thinks the Fed will need to go higher than that.

After the most recent rate hike, Fed Chair Jerome Powell left the door open to another increase in September, but also signaled that cooler data could allow a pause.

Bowman noted some progress on inflation, which by the widely followed consumer price index slowed to a 3% annual rate in June, down from 9% in the middle of last year.

“The recent lower inflation reading was positive, but I will be looking for consistent evidence that inflation is on a meaningful path down toward our 2 percent goal as I consider further rate increases and how long the federal funds rate will need to remain at a restrictive level,” she said.

“I will also be watching for signs of slowing in consumer spending and signs that labor market conditions are loosening.”

The Labor Department’s monthly job market report on Friday showed hiring slowed in June, but unemployment, at 3.5%, remains slow, and Bowman noted there are still many more available jobs than there are workers to fill those jobs.

Banks also continue to increase lending to households and businesses, albeit at a slower pace than when interest rates were lower, with no sharp contraction of credit since the banking turmoil in March, she said.

Reuters reporting by Ann Saphir; Reuters editing by Tom Hogue

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World’s oceans warming at alarming rate, scientists say

World’s oceans warming at alarming rate, scientists say – CBS News

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Scientists announced a grim milestone this month: The world’s oceans hit the hottest average recorded temperature. Ian Lee has more on why that’s so alarming, and what it means.

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