Effects of the Economic Crisis on Fertility: A Comparison Between South Korea and Italy

Over the past decades, economic downturns have affected fertility dynamics in several countries in Asia and in Europe. The main purpose of this study is to perform a comparative analysis between South Korea and Italy on the effects of the economic crises, started respectively in 1997 and 2007, on the levels and patterns of fertility. A “tight family system” but very low fertility levels characterize both these two countries. The datasets used come from the 2006 Korean National Fertility, Family Health and Welfare Survey and from the 2012 Italian Multipurpose Survey on Aspects of Everyday Life. Our sample focuses on women aged 20-49 currently married at the time of the survey. We summarize the distinctive patterns in the socioeconomic characteristics of the observed groups of women in Italy and South Korea. We also apply regression analyses to assess the changing effect of economic status on fertility. Our findings confirm that the recession affected fertility significantly both in South Korea and in Italy. Changes in reproductive behavior have been most evident among women characterized by a high level of fertility and among those who received junior high school education or lower. As the level of wife’s education rises, the number of children ever born after the crisis tends to increase.