Attitude Profiles and Fertility Intentions. Impact of Gender and Family Norms on Childbearing Plans.

Jeong-A Lee, Sciences Po, CRIS - INED
Laurent Toulemon, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Ester L. Rizzi, Université Catholique de Louvain

South Korea has the lowest fertility rates in the world, making fertility studies vital to understand this unprecedented phenomenon. While previous research acknowledges the impact of gender norms on fertility intentions, few studies examine both gender norms and attitudes toward family support— namely women’s willingness to financially support their children and parents—on childbearing plans. Using data from the 2022 Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families, this study explores how these norms influence married women’s childbearing plans. Findings show that non-egalitarian women with moderate support for children are the least likely to be uncertain about their fertility intentions, women with moderate parental investment paired with strong intergenerational support have the highest likelihood to plan a child, and finally, gender essentialist women with moderate support for children have the lowest positive fertility intentions. Further research must be conducted to decipher this interplay between familialist norms and gender norms on fertility plans and disentangle its dynamics by parity.

Keywords: Fertility, Gender Dynamics

See paper.

  Presented in Session 199. Reproductive Preferences and Ideals