The purpose of this study is to identify poorly understood factors related to the recent rapid decline in fertility in Korean society. Along with Becker’s child demand theory, personal psychological traits, such as independence, nurturance, and affiliation, were given special attention in this study. We examine the processes of resource transfers between married women and their parents on childbearing intention in order to verify the effects of both factors. Five hundred and seventy-six women in their early stage of marriage from the 2009 wave of the National Survey of Marriage and Childbirth were analyzed. Main results of the study are as follows. First, Becker’s child demand theory is not supported. Instead, the women who were not given economic support from their parents in getting a residence at the time of their wedding turned out to be more willing to have a child, potentially because they were more independent. Second, the women who provided caretaking and emotional support to their parents had higher childbearing intentions, potentially because they were more nurturing. In conclusion, these personal psychological variables are important in understanding the childbearing behavior of women. We suggest that the government should pay more attention to the micro-personal factors raised in this study when executing policies to reverse the current trend of low fertility.
목차
〈Abstract〉 Ⅰ. 서론 Ⅱ. 이론적 배경 Ⅲ. 연구 방법 Ⅳ. 결과 및 해석 Ⅴ. 논의 및 결론 참고문헌