Education, Employment, and (Un)Intended First Births: The Case of South Korea

• In Event: 40861 - Section on Sociology of Population Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 1: Fertility and Social Change

Abstract

Unintended birth (either mistimed or unwanted births) has received much attention in the United States (US), and they are observed more commonly among less educated women. While this negative association between education and unintended births has been well-documented in the US, it remains less clear whether this association is consistent in other industrialized countries. The purpose of the study is to elucidate the educational gradient in unintended childbearing by considering the employment status and looking at ‘unwanted’ and ‘mistimed’ births separately among all unintended births. Using from a survey of a nationally representative sample from Korea, our results indicate that education is associated with unwanted births, but not necessarily mistimed births, and that this negative association seem to be driven by employment types: Employed women (either with a regular job or a temp job) are more likely than unemployed women to have unwanted births, and mistimed births.

Authors

• Yujin Kim, Kangwon National University

• Hyeyoung Woo, Portland State University