Gender Parity, Not Income Level, Drives Fertility Intentions in Dual-Income Families (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Dual-income couples are more likely to consider having children when housework and earning power are shared equally between partners, a new study has found.
According to research published by the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education, women’s willingness to have children rises significantly when household chores are evenly divided and when wives’ economic bargaining power approaches parity with their husbands’.
The study, conducted by Rira Ahn of Korea University, analyzed data from 3,314 married working women under age 49 from the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families spanning 2012 to 2022. It examined how factors such as age, number of children, household income, and gender equality affected childbirth intentions.
Age and existing number of children were the strongest predictors of birth intention, followed by gender equality, economic factors, and cultural attitudes. The research found that women’s desire to have children peaked when husbands’ contribution to domestic labor reached about 47 percent—nearly an even split—and when wives earned about 30–50 percent of the couple’s combined hourly income.
Once wives’ earnings surpassed their husbands’, however, childbirth intentions tended to decline, suggesting that balance rather than dominance in household roles fostered the greatest willingness to expand families.
Household income showed a similar pattern: birth intentions increased with income up to a comfortable threshold but dropped sharply among those earning 90–100 million won (US$65,000–73,000) per year, possibly due to lifestyle or career considerations.
The study also noted that individualistic values correlated negatively with birth intentions, while egalitarian gender-role attitudes had a positive effect.
“The findings indicate that improving gender equality within both the home and workplace remains crucial to addressing Korea’s low birth rate,” Ahn wrote, calling for reforms in labor market structures and policies to reduce social and economic inequality.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
