ABSTRACT

The effects of family policies on fertility intentions have been underexplored under the ultra-low fertility context in East Asia. Using the 2007–2008 Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families (N = 1422), we examine how family assisting policies (i.e. maternal leave, childcare leave, and family allowance) and career-assisting policies (i.e. workplace daycare facilities, daycare allowance, and flexible working schedule) influence working women’s fertility intentions in Korea. Results indicate that family policies influence fertility intentions in a nuanced way in which they interact with reproductive age to jointly affect fertility intentions. Specifically, working women who are younger than advanced reproductive age (i.e. less than 35 years old) are more likely to report fertility intentions than their counterparts who are 35 or above, when childcare leave, family allowance, and workplace daycare facilities are available. We assess the effectiveness of these family policies and provide potential new directions to address the concerns about ultra-low fertility in Korea.

摘要

在东亚的超低生育率背景下，尚未充分研究家庭政策对生育意愿的影响。使用2007-2008年韩国妇女和家庭纵向调查（N = 1422），我们研究了家庭辅助政策（即产假，育儿假和家庭津贴）和职业协助政策（即工作场所日托设施，日托津贴和灵活的工作时间表）如何影响韩国职业女性的生育意愿。结果表明，家庭政策以一种细微的方式影响生育意愿，使之与生育年龄相互作用，共同影响生育意愿。具体而言，如果有育儿假，家庭津贴和工作场所日托设施，则比35岁或更高年龄的同龄女性早于育龄高龄（即小于35岁）的女性更有可能报告生育意愿。