Fertility Transition: East Asia

Abstract

East Asia experienced extremely rapid declines in fertility after World War II. In the last decades of the twentieth century, fertility declined further to below replacement levels in such countries as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Focusing on these three countries, this entry looks at the patterns and factors associated with the postwar fertility transition. Japan experienced two fertility transitions, the first a rapid decline from historically high to replacement levels of childbearing, which occurred shortly after World War II, and the second an ongoing decline from replacement to very low levels of fertility. South Korea and Taiwan both experienced one continuous fertility transition from very high to below replacement levels. Dramatic fertility transitions in these three countries were based primarily on rapid fertility reduction among married women, made possible by a rapid increase in contraceptive use combined with readily available induced abortion. Delay of marriage among women also played an important role, especially in the most recent fertility declines to below replacement levels. These demographic changes were associated with a notable increases in women's education and employment in the context of rapid economic change.