Childlessness in Korea: Role of education, marriage postponement, and marital childlessness

BACKGROUND: In Korea, where marriage and childbirth are inextricably linked, the number of childless women is rising. Aside from the increase in permanent unmarried women, the prevalence of late marriage limits a woman’s reproductive period, raises the risk of infertility, and can lead to childlessness. As Korea experienced the universalisation of higher education, the prolongation of education may have affected the timing of marriage. OBJECTIVE: Examining women’s marital status, age at first marriage, and educational background, this research explores how increasing age at marriage and extending educational periods are related and how they affect childlessness. METHODS: Based on 2005 and 2020 Korean census data, this study examines unmarried and married women aged 40. Descriptive statistics describe the trend of childlessness, and the effects of marital status, age at marriage, and educational background on childlessness are analysed by the decomposition technique. RESULTS: The number of Korean women who postpone and forgo marriage and childbirth is rising across all educational levels. Women with lower education marry earlier but are more likely to remain childless. Among recent birth cohorts, women tend to stay childless/child-free longer after marriage, regardless of education. More of them ultimately remain childless. CONCLUSIONS: An increase in permanently unmarried women, delayed childbirth after marriage, and marital childlessness has resulted in a significant rise in childlessness regardless of the education of women. CONTRIBUTION: There is literature on low fertility, childlessness, and delayed marriage, but the effect of education and marriage timing on marital childlessness remains understudied.