Domestic Division of Labour and the Lowest-Low Fertility in South Korea

BACKGROUND The gap between improvements in women’s socioeconomic status and gender inequality at home has been offered as one explanation for very low fertility. Related empirical evidence is lacking for East Asian countries, where women may face particular challenges combining career and family due to unique regional contexts. OBJECTIVES This paper provides an up-to-date picture of Korean women’s fertility intentions and fertility behaviour, and of the division of their domestic labour with husbands, parents(-in-law), and formal childcare services. In addition, it examines how the informal and formal help women receive affects their fertility behavior. METHODS Using data from the 2008, 2010, and 2012 waves of the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families, I describe fertility intentions, fertility behaviour, and the labour division, and, focusing on women with one child, use logit regressions to estimate how various sources of help relate to the intended and unintended births of second children. RESULTS Particularly among women with one child, both fertility intentions and behaviour displayed greater variability, and fertility intentions were a good predictor of fertility behaviour. Husbands did not provide much help, and gender inequality grew with parity. As for intended births, husbands’ help increased their likelihood. Formal help also had a positive impact when its costs were not high, but parental help showed no significant impact. None of these sources of help was related to unintended births. CONCLUSION To tackle Korea’s low fertility, the government policies would be wise to target women with one child. Empirical evidence from Korea supports the recent theoretical literature on the association of low fertility with gender inequity. Various sources of support that relieve women’s domestic labour burden and enhance their work-life compatibility may boost fertility rates in East Asia.