|
KMID : 0904520060190010119
|
|
Health and Medical Sociology
2006 Volume.19 No. 1 p.119 ~ p.149
|
|
|
The Influence of Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics on Fertility of Married Women after the 1997 Economic Crisis
|
|
Kong Sun-Young
|
|
|
Abstract
|
|
|
|
Previous studies examining factors influencing fertility ignore the effect of the 1997 economic crisis on fertility in Korea. Therefore, this study focuses on the relationship between socioeconomic status and fertility after the economic crisis. Data for this study was provided by 『National Fertility Rate and Family Health Survey 2000』. In order to examine exact factors which affected the time when the survey was conducted, the sample was adjusted by selecting women who are fertile (age 15-49) but with no children until 1999. As a result, unemployed women’s desirable number of children is statistically affected by the factors, such as the age at the first marriage, the level of education, the occupational status of husbands, the reason of wives’ unemployment, and whether they have a son in 2000, whereas employed women’s fertility (desirable number of children) is significantly affected by the factors, such as the level of education, the work experience before marriage, wives’ monthly income, occupational status, and the reason why they have jobs. This explains that socioeconomic factors play a critical role in determining the number of children that women desire to have. This study also indicates that the occupational status, which affects the future growth and stability of household economy, is more important in determination of having children than the amount of current household income because parents are worried about fostering and educational expenses. This clearly shows that the decreasing job security caused by the current economic downturn leads people to consider the future economic stability as a significant factor for having children. This study is meaningful in that it suggests an importance of future research on the relationship between fertility and economic conditions, such as employment status, to develop effective policies for increasing birth rate in Korean society.
|
|
|
KEYWORD
|
|
|
economic crisis, demographic factor, socioeconomic factor, fertility, employed women, unemployed women
|
|
|
FullTexts / Linksout information
|
|
|
|
|
|
Listed journal information
|
|
|
|