A Case for "Reverse One-Child" Policies in Japan and South Korea? Examining the Link Between Education Costs and Lowest-Low Fertility

被引：24

作者：

Tan, Poh Lin ^{[1
]}

Morgan, S. Philip ^{[2
]}

Zagheni, Emilio ^{[3
]}

机构：

[1] Natl Univ Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew Sch Publ Policy, 469C Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 259772, Singapore

[2] Univ North Carolina Chapel Hill, Dept Sociol, 155 Hamilton Hall CB 2310, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 USA

[3] Univ Washington, Dept Sociol, 211 Savery Hall Box 353340, Seattle, WA 98195 USA

来源：

POPULATION RESEARCH AND POLICY REVIEW | 2016年 / 35卷 / 03期

关键词：

Lowest-low fertility; Japan; South Korea; Education; Quantity-quality model; Policy; COLLEGE QUALITY; UNIVERSITY; QUANTITY; MOBILITY;

D O I：

10.1007/s11113-016-9390-4

中图分类号：

C921 [人口统计学];

学科分类号：

摘要：

Household spending on children's pre-tertiary education is exceptionally high in Japan and South Korea, and has been cited as a cause of low fertility. Previous research attributes this high spending to a cultural emphasis on education in East Asian countries. In this paper, we argue that institutional factors, namely higher education and labor market systems, play an important role in reinforcing the pressure on parents to invest in their children's education. We review evidence showing that graduating from a prestigious university has very high economic and social returns in Japan and South Korea, and examine the implications for fertility within the framework of quantity-quality models. Finally, we put forward 'reverse one-child' policies that directly address the unintended consequences of these institutional factors on fertility. These policies have the additional virtues of having very low fiscal requirements and reducing social inequality.

引用

页码：327 / 350

页数：24