Leiden University Student Repository

Wesseling, Carlijn (2024)

Low Fertility as a phenomenon of Education Fever: A case study of low fertility in South Korea

Bachelor thesis | Koreastudies (BA)

This study examines how the obsession with education affects the total fertility rate in South Korea. Among many factors, educational expenses weigh heavy when it comes to deciding to have another child. This study shows how education has been a means of social mobility throughout Korea’s history, how traces of this are still visible in contemporary South Korea, and how educational developments during the last century have caused private educational expenses to rise significantly. The results show that the societal preoccupation with status and education brings about excessive educational expenditures, causing parents to hold off on having a child or to give up on having another child completely, and thus lowering the total fertility rate.

fertility rate

education

education fever

low birth rate

south korea

social mobility

status

Author

Wesseling, Carlijn

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Ceuster, K. de

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en