Fertility differentials in Korea

Abstract

The data subset obtained from the Korean National Fertility Survey (KNFS), conducted in 1974 as a part of the World Fertility Survey,is analyzed to examine the extent of fertility differentials by socio-economic background and to explain the observed fertility differentials with regard to birth control methods. The indicator of fertility used in this study is the average number of children ever born for 5430 currently married women aged 14-49 who are still in their first marriage at the time of the survey. The selected socioeconomic variables are current residence, level of education, religion, occupation of husband, and economic s tatus. It is found that among these five socio-economic variables the fertility differentials by urban-rural residence and educational attainment are more substantial than the other socio-economic variables, and family planning is more important in determining fertility than induced abortion. The study also shows that both urbanization and educational development, as a result of economic development, contribute to a sizable part of the total decline in fertility in Korea.