IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vid/yearbk/v18y2020i1oid0x003bd199.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ultra-low fertility in East Asia: Confucianism and its discontents

Author

Listed:
  • Yen-hsin Alice Cheng

Abstract

This study reviews the institutional factors that have influenced the fertility and family trends in five East Asian societies that experienced a precipitous transition to very low fertility: China, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. The paper begins by outlining the unique family formation patterns of these societies and the existing explanations for their observed ultra-low fertility levels. In particular, it highlights the role of Confucian culture, which emphasises patriarchal values and credentialism, in shaping the current state of low fertility in East Asia. For example, the ways in which Confucianism affects women’s roles at home, the effectiveness of pronatalist policies and the burden of human capital investments among parents are discussed. With these contextual factors and the current very low fertility rates as a backdrop, this study also examines attitudinal changes in marriage and family values that have taken place in these societies after the new millennium. These changes could further erode the traditional family and influence family formation trends in the future. The article concludes by discussing recent policy responses and the possible future of fertility in East Asia.

Suggested Citation

  • Yen-hsin Alice Cheng, 2020. "Ultra-low fertility in East Asia: Confucianism and its discontents," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 18(1), pages 83-120.
    • Handle: RePEc:vid:yearbk:v:18:y:2020:i:1:oid:0x003bd199
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://austriaca.at/0xc1aa5576_0x003bd199.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erin Hye-Won Kim, 2017. "Division of domestic labour and lowest-low fertility in South Korea," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(24), pages 743-768.
    2. Tomas Frejka & Gavin W. Jones & Jean‐Paul Sardon, 2010. "East Asian Childbearing Patterns and Policy Developments," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 36(3), pages 579-606, September.
    3. Daniel Goodkind, 2011. "Child Underreporting, Fertility, and Sex Ratio Imbalance in China," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(1), pages 291-316, February.
    4. Eleanor Jawon Choi & Jisoo Hwang, 2020. "Transition of Son Preference: Evidence From South Korea," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(2), pages 627-652, April.
    5. Andrea den Boer & Valerie Hudson, 2017. "Patrilineality, Son Preference, and Sex Selection in South Korea and Vietnam," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 43(1), pages 119-147, March.
    6. Jia Yu & Yu Xie, 2015. "Cohabitation in China: Trends and Determinants," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 41(4), pages 607-628, December.
    7. Albert Esteve & Ridhi Kashyap & Joan García-Román & Yen-Hsin Alice Cheng & Setsuya Fukuda & Wanli Nie & Hyun-ok Lee, 2020. "Demographic change and increasing late singlehood in East Asia, 2010–2050," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(46), pages 1367-1398.
    8. Erin Hye-Won Kim & Adam Ka-Lok Cheung, 2019. "The Gendered Division of Household Labor over Parenthood Transitions: A Longitudinal Study in South Korea," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 38(4), pages 459-482, August.
    9. Gavin W. Jones, 2007. "Delayed Marriage and Very Low Fertility in Pacific Asia," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 33(3), pages 453-478, September.
    10. Sam Hyun Yoo & Tomáš Sobotka, 2018. "Ultra-low fertility in South Korea: The role of the tempo effect," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(22), pages 549-576.
    11. Juhua Yang, 2017. "Gendered division of domestic work and willingness to have more children in China," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(62), pages 1949-1974.
    12. James Raymo & Miho Iwasawa & Larry Bumpass, 2009. "Cohabitation and family formation in Japan," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 46(4), pages 785-803, November.
    13. Fengqing Chao & Patrick Gerland & Alex R. Cook & Leontine Alkema, 2019. "Systematic assessment of the sex ratio at birth for all countries and estimation of national imbalances and regional reference levels," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(19), pages 9303-9311, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Setsuya Fukuda, 2020. "Marriage will (continue to) be the key to the future of fertility in Japan and East Asia," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 18(1), pages 71-79.
    2. Lee, Zong-Rong, 2021. "A brief review of the economic sociology of Taiwan's development," economic sociology. perspectives and conversations, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, vol. 23(1), pages 28-33.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yumiao Zhang & Wenbin Zang, 2022. "Do the Marital Statuses of Adult Offspring Affect Their Parent’s Mental Health? Empirical Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-18, August.
    2. Sam Hyun Yoo, 2016. "Postponement and recuperation in cohort marriage: The experience of South Korea," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(35), pages 1045-1078.
    3. Martin Piotrowski & Erik Bond & Ann Beutel, 2020. "Marriage counterfactuals in Japan: Variation by gender, marital status, and time," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(37), pages 1081-1118.
    4. Man-Yee Kan & Ekaterina Hertog & Kamila Kolpashnikova, 2019. "Housework share and fertility preference in four East Asian countries in 2006 and 2012," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(35), pages 1021-1046.
    5. Seongsoo Choi, 2018. "Fewer mothers with more colleges? The impacts of expansion in higher education on first marriage and first childbirth," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(20), pages 593-634.
    6. Fleckenstein, Timo & Lee, Soohyun Christine & Mohun Himmelweit, Sam, 2023. "Labour market dualization, permanent insecurity and fertility: the case of ultra-low fertility in South Korea," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117935, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Goli, Srinivas & Arora, Somya & Jain, Neha & Shekher, T V, 2022. "Patrilocality and Child Sex Ratios in India," MPRA Paper 111905, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Sam Hyun Yoo & Tomáš Sobotka, 2018. "Ultra-low fertility in South Korea: The role of the tempo effect," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(22), pages 549-576.
    9. Poh Lin Tan & Jeremy Lim-Soh, 2023. "Access to Ovulation Tests and Strategic Timing of Intercourse in a Low Fertility Context," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-23, February.
    10. Wei-hsin Yu & Janet Chen-Lan Kuo, 2016. "Explaining the Effect of Parent-Child Coresidence on Marriage Formation: The Case of Japan," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(5), pages 1283-1318, October.
    11. Li Ma & Ester Rizzi, 2017. "Entry into first marriage in China," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(36), pages 1231-1244.
    12. Wookun Kim, 2023. "Baby Bonus, Fertility, and Missing Women," Departmental Working Papers 2308, Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics.
    13. Wanru Xiong, 2022. "Dynamics between Regional Sex Ratios at Birth and Sex Ratios at Prime Marriageable Ages in China," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 48(2), pages 545-578, June.
    14. Zhen Zhang & Qiang Li, 2020. "Population aging caused by a rise in the sex ratio at birth," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(32), pages 969-992.
    15. Jolene Tan, 2022. "Heterogeneity among the never married in a low-fertility context," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 47(24), pages 727-776.
    16. Wei-hsin Yu & Yuko Hara, 2020. "Job characteristics, marital intentions, and partner-seeking actions: Longitudinal evidence from Japan," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(52), pages 1509-1544.
    17. Wookun Kim, 2020. "Baby Bonus, Fertility, and Missing Women," Departmental Working Papers 2011, Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics.
    18. Neha Jain, 2022. "Patrilocality and Child Sex Ratios in India," Working Papers 2265, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.
    19. Mengni Chen & Paul S. F. Yip, 2017. "The Discrepancy Between Ideal and Actual Parity in Hong Kong: Fertility Desire, Intention, and Behavior," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 36(4), pages 583-605, August.
    20. Sara Tafuro, 2020. "An Economic Framework for Persisting Son Preference: Rethinking the Role of Intergenerational Support," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(6), pages 983-1007, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vid:yearbk:v:18:y:2020:i:1:oid:0x003bd199. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Bernhard Rengs (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/vid/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.