South Korea’s challenge: Low fertility rate and Government’s policies to enhance fertility rate.

• Thesis title in Czech: Nízká porodnost a vládní politika k jejímu zvýšení jako výzva pro Jižní Koreu
• Thesis title in English: South Korea’s challenge: Low fertility rate and Government’s policies to enhance fertility rate.
• Academic year of topic announcement: 2019/2020
• Thesis type: diploma thesis
• Thesis language: angličtina
• Department: Department of Public and Social Policy (23-KVSP)
• Supervisor: Mgr. Ing. Olga Angelovská, Ph.D.
• Author: hidden - assigned by the advisor
• Date of registration: 29.09.2020
• Date of assignment: 29.09.2020
• Date and time of defence: 31.01.2022 08:00
• Venue of defence: Pekařská 16, JPEK312, 312, Malá učebna, 3.patro
• Date of electronic submission: 04.01.2022
• Date of proceeded defence: 31.01.2022
• Opponents: Mgr. Lukáš Hájek, M.A., Ph.D.

References

Bibliography:

Anderson, Thomas; Kohler, Hans-Peter. Education fever and the East Asian fertility puzzle: A case study of low fertility in South Korea. Asian population studies, 2013, 9.2: 196-215.
Becker, 1960. An economic analysis of fertility. In Demographic and economic change in developed countries (pp. 209-240). Columbia University Press.
Becker. The economics of discrimination. University of Chicago press, 1957.
Chang, Kyung-sup. Compressed modernity and its discontents: South Korean society in transition. Economy and society, 1999, 28.1: 30-55.
OECD, 2021. Fertility rates. [online]. [cit. 2021-04-01]. Retrieved from: https://data.oecd.org/pop/fertility-rates.htm#indicator-chart
Kim, Erin Hye-Won. Division of domestic labor and lowest-low fertility in South Korea. Demographic Research, 2017, 37: 743-768.
Kim, Jibum, Kang, Jeong-Han, Kim, Seok-ho, Kim, Changhwan, Park, Wonho, Lee, Yun-Suk, and Choi, Seulgi. Korean General Social Survey (KGSS): Cumulative File, 2003-2016. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-05-20.
Kim, Sang-Wook. Korean General Social Survey (KGSS), 2006. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2013-12-05. (Seo, 2019)
Kim, Sang-Wook. Korean General Social Survey (KGSS), 2010. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2013-12-05. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR34666.v2
Kim, Sang-Wook. Korean General Social Survey (KGSS), 2012. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2014-10-27. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR35335.v1
Kim, Yeon‐Jin; Kim, Suyoung. Relational ethics as a cultural constraint on fathers' parental leave in a Confucian welfare state, South Korea. Social Policy & Administration, 2020, 54.5: 684-698.
Leitner, S., 2003. Varieties of familialism: The caring function of the family in comparative perspective. European societies, 5(4), pp.353-375.
Letablier, Marie-Thérèse, et al. The costs of raising children and the effectiveness of policies to support parenthood in European countries: a Literature Review. 2009.
Monk-Turner, Elizabeth; Turner, Charlie. The gender wage gap in South Korea: how much has changed in 10 years?. Journal of Asian Economics, 2004, 15.2: 415-424.
OECD, 2021 [online]. Fertility rates. [cit. 2021-04-01]. Retrieved from: https://data.oecd.org/pop/fertility-rates.htm#indicator-chart
Pfau-Effinger, B., 2005. Culture and welfare state policies: Reflections on a complex interrelation. Journal of social policy, 34(1), pp.3-20.
Seo, J., 2019. Childcare and Maternity Protection Reforms in Korea: Policy-Layering Features in Comparative Perspectives. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 21(2), pp.183-198.
Song, H.K., 2003. The birth of a welfare state in Korea: The unfinished symphony of democratization and globalization. Journal of East Asian Studies, 3(3), pp.405-432.
Stephen, Elizabeth Hervey. Bracing for low fertility and a large elderly population in South Korea. Korea Economic Institute Academic Paper Series, 2012, 51.
Wang, Q., and Sun, X., 2016. The role of socio-political and economic factors in fertility decline: a cross-country analysis. World development, 87, pp.360-370.

Preliminary scope of work

Topic characteristics / Research Question(s):
After the past Asian financial crisis in 1997 and for the last 20 years, South Korea underwent institutional social welfare changes (Chang, 1999). The year 1997 has been specific as to enhance the social welfare in South Korea. Since then, South Korean Governments went through profound institutional changes to improve their fertility rate (Song, 2003). However, the low fertility rate is still declining, and the policies are not efficient (OECD, 2021).
Currently, the fertility rate of South Korea is estimating to be the lowest among OECD member states, and it raises concerns for the South Korean Government. The trend is that South Korea's population is aging and, as a consequence, is expected to have economic and social implications (Stephens, 2012, p.7).
With such a phenomenon, it is in Government's interest to provide various family policies to secure work-family life and healthy family lives (Chin, 2011). This demographical issue will be understood from multiple perspectives: historical, political, social, economic, and cultural (Wang, Sun, 2016).
I will build my diploma thesis on the three leading theories—theory of defamilization and a typology by Sigrid Leitner, who made a typology of varieties of familialism. South Korea is a case that the typology of Sigrid Leitner cannot easily classify. However, I will try to organize South Korea to Sigrid Leitner's typology of familialization and concept of familialization – de-familialization (Leitner, 2003).
Another relevant theorist for my research is Pfau-Effinger, who links culture and welfare state policies (Pfau-Effinger, 2005). In my diploma thesis, I will also try to explain Confucianism's cultural phenomenon (patriarchal and its familial aspects) and its implications on South Korean families' cultural and ethical values. More specifically, I will try to understand the Confucianism in South Korean families and at work (work culture) that are an inseparable part of South Korean relational ethics (Kim; Kim, 2020).
I will start interpreting the low fertility rate from an economic perspective based on an economic Nobel prize winner Gary S. Becker in my diploma thesis. He analyzed households and families and their behavior. He also gave his input on economic analysis on fertility and economic discrimination based on sex (Becker, 1957; Monk-Turner, Turner, 2004).
From Government policies, I will analyze these variables:
1. "education costs" and the phenomenon of educational fever, education overinvestment and education trap in South Korea (childcare facilities, elementary, middle, high school and universities), the phenomenon of Hagwons (private after school tutoring agencies) and SKY phenomenon (top 3 universities in South Korea)
2. "the parental leaves" – Breadwinners x Caregivers
3. "the female labor force" - Government wants to include the female labor force in the economy (commodification); however, there are unwritten social and patriarchal norms that resound in the society (patriarchal society with predefined social norms and social roles)
4. "family-work life" – Hierarchical structure of society embedded in both family and work. Here I will analyze the specific family and work ethics in South Korea

My diploma thesis aims to study South Korean Government family policies from economic, political, and cultural perspectives to explain the relationship between the low fertility rate phenomenon and Confucianism. My Diploma thesis seeks to explain and interpret the cultural and social welfare specifics in South Korea and its effect on fertility (Anderson; Kohler, 2013; Kim, 2017).
My first research question is: "Are direct and indirect costs of having and bringing up children in Korea higher than in other developed countries (Letablier, 2009, p. 17)?"
My second research question will be: "Is the South Korean welfare regime undergoing an institutional change, as the regime is transforming from a traditional family-centered regime to a state-responsibility-based regime?"
My third research question is: "Do cultural values, Confucian values, such as Confucian relational ethics, influence South Korean families, and are they in contradiction to the Government policies to enhance the fertility rate in South Korea?"
My research will be a case study that is an intensive study, systematic investigation of South Korean cases, examining in-depth secondary data relating to the low fertility rate.
Secondly, research papers and scientific articles concerning my topic from peer-reviewed journals.
To give my argumentation and my reasoning of such phenomenon of low fertility rate in South Korea, I will analyze these four variables for my explanation and interpretation:
1) Education costs (Childcare facilities, Hagwon (after school activities) and universities (top three - SKY)  education fever (arms race)
2) Parental leaves  Breadwinners x Caregivers
3) Female labor force  patriarchal society, social norms, social roles
4) Family-work life  work ethics, hierarchical society
Working hypotheses:
Hypothesis #1: Confucianism has a negative effect on fertility because it is based on traditional, patriarchal norms. Current society is, however, in transition to postindustrial.
Hypothesis #2: Using and confirming Becker's concept, this diploma thesis argues that high direct and indirect costs related to education are one of the determining causes of low fertility in South Korea.
Hypothesis #3: Profoundly developing welfare regime does not necessarily lead to societal change. Institutional change in Korea is ahead of societal change.

Methodology:

My data will be quantitative, consisting of secondary data. Mainly from Government and statistical resources: OECD data (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), KGSS (Korean General Social Survey), KOSIS (Korean Statistical Information Service), KOSSDA (Korean Social Science Data Archive), KOSTAT (Statistics Korea), ICPSR (Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research), OECD, Macrotrends, etc. But also, I will work with secondary scientific data to answer my research questions and hypotheses.
As mentioned above, research will be a case study, i.e., an in-depth investigation of South Korean welfare policies and relational cultural, philosophical ethics. To include Confucian aspects into my research, I will draw such Confucian variables with such traits from KGSS surveys. Mainly from 2003-2018, that is an aggregation and correction of all previous surveys. Moreover, I will use particular questions linked to the patriarchal (Confucian values) and gender unequal norms from KGSS codebooks from years 2006, 2010, and 2012.