Fertility Intentions and Behavior in a Lowest-Low Fertility Country: Findings from Korea

While there has been a growing literature on low fertility in developed Western countries, little is known about the phenomenon in the East. It is a question of great interest whether findings from the former apply to the very different context in the latter. Using 2008, 2010, and 2012 waves of the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families, first, this paper provides up-to-date pictures of Korean women’s childbearing. We describe whether women planned to have a child in 2008, whether they gave birth between 2008 and 2012, and how the two fertility outcomes are related. Next, we examine what determined the outcomes with logit regressions, focusing on women of parity one. As for determinants, we pay attention to husbands’ and parents’ help with domestic labor and use of formal childcare services.
Results showed fertility intentions were good predictors of fertility behavior. While both fertility intentions and actual childbearing were remarkably low among women with two or more children, parity progression of women with one child seemed relatively malleable. Gender inequality in division of domestic labor was striking. Husbands’ help had a positive impact on fertility intentions. Use of formal childcare affected fertility behavior positively. These findings have implications for other Asian countries with low fertility.