Gender Equity and Fertility Intentions in “Lowest-Low” Fertility Settings: Evidence from South Korea and Japan

• In Event: Changing Dynamics of Marriage, Work, and Family in East Asia

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between the male breadwinner model and low fertility in contemporary Japan and South Korea. One of the leading theories for the emergence of very low fertility rates in Europe and East Asia suggests that fertility will remain low until women’s increased labor market participation is matched by increased gender equality in the household (housework and childcare). This is because working wives shoulder a “double burden” of paid and unpaid labor, making it difficult to have more than one child. Accordingly, it is hypothesized that couples who have a more equal division of labor at home will have more children than “traditional” couples. But results from European studies have shown only mixed support for this theory. This paper argues for the importance of cultural context, namely gender-role ideology and the dominant workplace norms in a society. We examine the cases of Japan and South Korea, two very low-fertility societies characterized by gender-role norms and workplace conditions favoring a “male breadwinner-female caregiver” model. Analyzing 130 structured in-depth interviews of married, highly-educated young adults, we show how their workplace conditions and household division of labor influence the number of children they plan to have. Our results show that couples who strive for equality at home are less likely than “traditional” male-breadwinner couples to have two children unless they are able to find workplaces that are more amenable to work-family balance. This demonstrates how workplaces built on male-breadwinner assumptions depress fertility rates in the two countries.

Authors

• Mary C. Brinton, Harvard University

• Eunsil Oh, Harvard University