The postponement and recuperation of first marriage and its educational difference in South Korea

Marriage is an important social institution associated with the transition into adulthood and childbearing in many societies. Childbearing and marriage are inseparable yet, particularly in East Asia, and aging of childbearing is closely related to the postponement of marriage in this area. A body of literature suggests that women’s educational attainment plays an important role in the timing of first marriage and marriage rate. Despite widespread interest in low fertility, research on the postponement and recuperation of first marriage in low fertility context remains unexplored. The sustained increase in age at first marriage without much change in the proportion of never-married among older women implies that considerable proportion of delayed marriage is recuperated later in East Asia. With a series of Korean Census samples data, this study investigates the postponement and recuperation of first marriage in South Korea, one of the lowest-low fertility countries, and also examines how it differs across women’s educational levels. The result of this study provides evidence that the pattern of family formation is diverged by women’s educational levels in South Korea.