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...Show moreThis 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.Show less
The main cause of birth-rate decline, in any country as well as China, is due to natural changes in socio-economic factors, such as the labour market, prospects of financial stability, the housing...Show moreThe main cause of birth-rate decline, in any country as well as China, is due to natural changes in socio-economic factors, such as the labour market, prospects of financial stability, the housing market, the marriage market, a work-life balance, urbanization, affordable childcare and education of both men and women. The one-child policy might have assisted a fast-track through the stages of demographic transition, but the main reason for the current continuation of low fertility is caused by these socio-economic factors. To prove the legitimacy of this argument, even though there were no birth control policies set in place in Japan since the end of the Second World War, fertility still declined due to similar socio-economic circumstances as in China today. However, after Japanese policy makers started addressing some of the socio-economic factors, birth rates did ever so slightly improve since the low in 2005, further showing evidence of the importance of these determining factors. The argument that will be used in this paper to answer the research question “Why did Chinese policymakers drop the one-child policy and how effective is this policy move in reversing the demographic trends?” is as follows: The one-child policy was fully dropped as policy makers finally realized, while too late due to the opaqueness of the Chinese government, that the fertility rates were socially and economically unsustainable. The effect of the implemented policies in reversing the demographic trend is weak because the socio-economic factors which determine continuous low fertility are not addressed.Show less
