Socioeconomic Status Differentials in Reproduction During the Korean Fertility Transition: Evidence From a Rural Village

Bongoh Kye , Kookmin University
Heejin Park, Kyungpook National University

We examine SES differentials in reproduction during the Korean fertility transition in a rural village. SES differentials in reproduction have important implications for fertility in the past and fertility decline because these indicate how active demographic responses were to environment in the past and what a driving force of fertility decline was. By using the population registers linked to land rosters and school records, we examine how land holding and educational attainment were associated with the timing of marriage and birth. This allows us to examine how these two different measures of SES, which have different implications for fertility, were associated with reproduction. Preliminary analysis shows that the timing of reproduction depended on educational attainment. The better educated married and gave birth later than the less educated, and these educational differentials were greater for the earlier birth cohort. We discuss the implications of this finding and the future plan.

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 Presented in Session 126. Contemporary and Historical Fertility Transitions