Low fertility rates are raising alarm bells across the advanced economies of the OECD, with the average having fallen to 1.5 births per woman — well below the replacement level.
Japan is often cited as an example of the risks, which include slower growth, strained public finances and deep generational divides. But at 1.2 births per woman, Japan is still reproducing faster than South Korea, where the birth rate has dropped to just 0.75 — the lowest in the world.
Recent studies identify long-term shifts in education, employment, housing, childrearing costs and gender norms as the main factors behind South Korea’s fertility collapse. My own research with Eunbi Song confirms many of these findings, showing that rising educational attainment and labor-force participation among women, along with changing perceptions of marriage, play a particularly powerful role in reducing fertility.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.