All Issues

In recent decades, the workforce participation of women (both married and single) has increased substantially in South Korea. However, many obstacles such as biased perspectives, and financial and time limitations in relation to childbirth and childrearing, have still made it problematic for married women to keep their current jobs. Kim (2003) reported that more than half of women have been fired or resigned within a year after their marriages. In addition, Kim (2003) argued that , unlike their male counterparts, the women’s firing is significantly associated between changed marital status and position shift from permanent to temporary job.

One of major mechanisms of perspective change described in the literature is cohort replacement (i.e. inter-cohort) change. Birth cohorts differ from one another due to exposure to different historical and socio-economic conditions during their early, formative years. Because of diverse socialization experiences, each successive cohort adopts distinctive perspectives, attitudes, and values, which remain relatively stable over the life course. Indeed, inter-cohort differences are seen for a wide range of social and political perspectives (Brooks & Bolzendahl, 2004; Lesthaeghe & Surkyn, 2008; Treas, 2002). Many researchers focus on factors related to socialization of children such as gender, education, parental characteristics, parental family structure, and place of residence to explain changes in family related perspectives (Choi & Kim, 2005; Lee, 2009). In addition to cohort succession, events such as marriage, cohabitation, childbearing, and divorce may alter or reaffirm views about family. Premarital cohabitation, for example, leads to less traditional attitudes toward family issues (Axinn & Barber, 1997). Even though people with more traditional perspectives are more likely to marry and have children in the first place, transitioning to parenthood promotes traditional perspectives toward childbirth and child rearing (Moors, 2000; Morgan & Waite, 1987).

As the several theories described above argue, individual-level factors are important predictors of perspectives toward childbirth and childrearing and of changes in perspectives over time. One important individual-level factor is age. Past studies have reported that older people are more supportive of traditional marriage (Pagnini & Rindfuss, 1993) and less supportive of voluntary childlessness (Koropeckyj-Cox & Pendell, 2007); older people also view children as more central to their lives than younger people (Jones & Brayfield, 1997).

Several studies have asserted that education and employment should be considered as important predictors of perspectives of childbirth and childrearing. Cho and Kim (2010) reported that the better-educated delay marriage, have fewer children and view family roles as less central. They also place less emphasis on marriage and hold more positive attitudes toward voluntary childlessness (Lee, 2009). Participation in the labor force also exposes both men and women to non-traditional ideas about family and gender roles; it also increases economic resources and the share of non-kin in personal networks. Employed men and women have less traditional attitudes toward family and children (Trent & South, 1992) compared to those individuals who are not in the labor force, and these differences have increased for American women from 1972 to 1986 (Glass, 1992).

Financial status (income) is another significant predictor of perspectives of childbirth and childrearing. Yang and Rosenblatt (2008) reported that many South Korean couples chose not to have children or to delay having children because they lacked the income and economic security to support their children. Cho and Kim (2010) also proposed that income is the strongest predictor of not having children among South Korean couples.

Recent studies have emphasized the importance of understanding the broader social environment in which fertility decisions are made (e.g., Choi & Kim, 2005). Specifically, government initiated policy regarding family planning significantly affects the decisions of whether to have children (Cho, 2010; Cho & Kim, 2010). According to the Korea Statistics Department (2012), there has been a sharp decrease in birth rate since a population control policy was implemented by the South Korean government during the 1960s. Cho and Seo (1989) reported that as a result of the government initiated policy, the total fertility rate (TFR) went down from 6.0 to 1.6 in the period from 1960 to 1987.

In contrast to the 1960s, the South Korean government has developed and implemented several programs to increase fertility rate in order to deal with unexpected low birth rate. The South Korean government promulgated the First Basic Planning for Low Fertility and Aged Society (2006-2010) in 2006, which focuses on three areas: 1) extending supports for costs of child care and education, and expanding after-school education to attenuate the financial burden of households; 2) providing various incentives for families with children; reinforcing support for families that adopt; expanding public and workplace childcare facilities, improving quality of service in the private child-care facilities, and extending child-care service to meet diversified demands; 3) establishing a health and nutrition system for expectant mothers and children, providing economical support for couples suffering from infertility, and aid for postpartum and new-born infant care of the poor class (Korea Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2012). There is notable evidence that the number of children increased for the first time since 1994 from 438,000 in 2005 to 452,000 in 2006 and 497,000 in 2007, increasing TFR (total fertility rate) from 1.08 in 2005 to 1.13 in 2006 and 1.26 in 2007 (Lee, 2009).

A host of theoretical perspectives have cropped up to explain the demographic transition from a high birth and death rate to a low birth and death rate. One of the earliest theories to explain declining fertility comes from psychological stress theory. Janis (1958) defines psychological stress as the reaction to a physically dangerous event in which pain, bodily injury, or death is anticipated. The way an individual psychologically handles the impending crisis during the pre-impact period is an important determinant for the outcome. Janis postulates that a "work of worry" is essential for successful outcome. This anticipatory rehearsal or imaginative construction of future events serves to bind anxiety and later functions to reduce uncertainty at crisis impact. Psychological stress theory can explain the current changed phenomenon according to which highly educated Korean women keep avoiding having babies. Some studies have reported that the degree of this avoidance shows a close association between educational level and increased awareness of anticipated risks (Feizi et al., 2010). In addition, Korean women who want to maintain a beautiful appearance may think that baby delivery will be a risky event and destroy their body shapes.

Another theory to explain declining fertility is rationality theory. According to the rationality theory, the fertility decision is deemed to be a psychological process whereby the individual decision maker seeks to maximize utility while taking into account resource limitations and cost constraints (Bagozzi & van Loo, 1979). People have fewer children as their incomes increase when they realize that the decrease in the number of children is offset by an enormous increase in the amount of resources they can invest in each child (Bergstrom, 1996). Easterlin and Crimmins (1985) reported that people are motivated to practice contraception when the potential supply of surviving children exceeds the demand for them. The rational choice approach has several challenges. Friedman, Hechter, & Kanazawa (1994) pointed out that it cannot explain why people continue to have children when their net instrumental value is negative. Cultural norms and climates may affect married women’s decision to have babies (Lesthaege, 1983). Others have argued that people behave differently from what the economic model predicts, and often, their behavior is contrary to rationality assumptions (Bagozzi & van Loo, 1979).

Alternative theories see fertility as impacted by social factors at the macro-level, such as labor force participation rates, sexual income differentiation, and relative economic status. Practically, these are societal factors that are beyond individual control but that nonetheless exert infl uence on people’s decisions. Importantly, the fertility decision is a multifaceted phenomenon under the influence of complex social, economic, cultural, and psychological factors. Parallel to this, there is an integrated review of various factors (psychological, social, economic, and public policy) that impact birth rate. Such an integrated lens can be provided by the risk-society theory. The risk-society theory understands that the risks stemming from economic and technological changes depreciate the value of the family and children through several different mechanisms, including automation and employment insecurity (Beck, 1999). Therefore, risk management has become the most important response pattern that individuals use to direct their thinking and actions in order to maintain a greater sense of certainty or control. The most important aspect of human life – reproduction – has become a major issue, drawing the close attention of policy makers because it affects the supply of human labor and stability of the society.

Based on the literature review and theoretical frameworks, the following research questions have been developed for this study:

Question 1. What are the most important concerns when the participants make a plan for an additional child?

Question 2. Which aspect of government policies regarding childbirth and childrearing is the most favorable?

Question 3. What are the relationships among demographic variables (age, education, income, occupation, years of marriage, number of children), the level of satisfaction with government policies, and perception of childbirth and childrearing?

Question 4. After accounting for mediating demographic variables, does the level of satisfaction with government policies significantly predict on perception of childbirth and childrearing?

Using a cross-sectional survey design, we collected data from 341 married women who were living in Pyeongteak-si, Gyeonggi Province, Korea, via a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. The survey was conducted between September and November, 2011 at a childrearing resources center, women’s center, and day care center in Pyeongteak-si. We used 341 surveys after removing 9 surveys because of too many missing answers. Participants ranged in age from the 20s to the 50s. Overall, 65.5 % of the participants had two or more children, whereas 32% had one child, and 0.9% had no children. A large majority (57.5%) of the sample had graduated from college or university, more than those who merely held high school degrees (32.3%). Housewives made up a substantial proportion (43.8%) of the occupation type, followed by full time (34.9%), self-employed (13.5%), and temporary job (7.9%). Those with a medium level of income made up the highest proportion (32.6%) of the subjects (see Table 1).

The dependent variables of the study are perception of childbirth and childcare. They are a composite score of ten survey items used by Sin and Bang (2009) from ‘Strongly disagree’ (1) to ‘Strongly agree’ (5). Two negative items were reverse coded. High scores on the measure indicated a more positive perception of childbirth and child care. The computed alpha coefficient of the ten items was 0.60.

The independent variables were classified into two categories: socio-demographic variables and level of satisfaction with government policies. Socio-demographic variables were age, number of children, educational attainment, occupation, and monthly family income. Educational attainment was classified into less than junior high school, high school graduate, college graduate, and university graduate. Occupation was classified as housewife, self-employed, full time, and temporary job.

Satisfaction level with government policies was a composite score of five items used by Sin and Bang (2009) from ‘Strongly disagree’ (1) to ‘Strongly agree’ (5). The five items of the scale are (1) construction of cultural environment; (2) childcare service support; (3) childbirth medical expense support; (4) childbirth encouragement fund; and (5) social insurance and tax support. High scores on the measure indicated higher satisfaction with government policies. The computed internal validity of the five items was 0.92.

To explore the first and second research question, mean and standard deviation were calculated. To examine the third research question, a Pearson’s correlation was conducted. The fourth research question was addressed by a hierarchical multiple regression equation. The regression model was solved by entering socio-demographic variables as a block, and then entering the level of satisfaction with government policies into the equation as a second block.

Table 2 shows the ranking of the participants’ expressed concerns in relation to deciding to have an additional baby. Sufficient number of trustworthy day care centers is the most highly ranked concern and social values are the lowest ranked concern among the participants.

Construction of cultural environment, such as diminishing a gender biased perception on working and childrearing, and promoting the culture of accepting married women’s economic activities was the most favorable aspect of government policies. Social insurance/tax support is the least favorable aspect of government policies regarding childbirth and childrearing (See Table 3).

To examine the third research question on the relationship between socio-demographic variables and perception of childbirth and childrearing, a Pearson’s correlational analysis was conducted. Table 2 shows that the number of children (r = -0.12), income (r = 0.11) and kind of occupation (r = 0.12) were significantly associated with perception of childbirth and childrearing. Satisfaction with government policies (r = .54) was also significantly associated with perception of childbirth and childrearing (see Table 4).

After accounting for mediating variables of socio-demographical variables, the final research question asked whether the level of satisfaction with government policies regarding family planning predicts perception of childbirth and childrearing. After controlling for socio-demographic variables (adjusted R² = 0.03), the level of satisfaction with government policies accounted for an additional 27% of variance in perception of childbirth and childrearing (final adjusted R² = 0.30) and indicated that the level of satisfaction with government policies contributed significantly to perception of childbirth and childrearing among Korean married women (see Table 5).