Abstract
Economically advanced countries show considerable variability in fertility levels. Those with the very lowest fertility have populations that are rapidly aging, and in some the population is shrinking overall. This introduction previews chapters that describe the situation in eight countries that have experienced varying degrees of fertility decline in recent years: China, Hong Kong (actually a territory, not a country), Japan, Singapore, and South Korea, all with a total fertility rate (TFR) of less than 1.5 children per woman, and Australia, the Netherlands, and the United States, where fertility is now close to the replacement level of 2.1. The discussion focuses on common features across the countries as well as distinctive cultural, institutional, and policy features of each country that might affect fertility levels, either deliberately or inadvertently. Such features include flexibility of the labor markets, the link between marriage and childbearing, factors that help or hinder parents in balancing work and family obligations, gender equity, education systems, the housing markets, and governmental subsidies for the cost of childrearing.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Hong Kong is technically not a country, but rather a territory of China with considerable autonomy. For linguistic ease, we refer to it as a country.
- 2.
As Wang Feng (this volume) notes, the actual TFR levels for China have been a matter of dispute among Chinese government agencies and demographers. The rates shown in Fig. 1.1, beginning in 1994, are from the National Bureau of Statistics and are widely accepted among demographers.
- 3.
For an excellent formal discussion of how different fertility and mortality rates affect the age structure of a population see Coale (1972).
- 4.
Norway is an interesting exception with its large and growing Sovereign Wealth Fund, based upon its oil revenue. Some of the proceeds will be used for Norway’s elderly pension system. Currently, the fund has assets of more than US$ 900 billion or more than US$ 175,000 per Norwegian.
- 5.
We note that recent political and judicial decisions in Japan and South Korea are changing the legal status of children born outside a marital union.
- 6.
In South Korea, approximately 80 % of secondary-school graduates now enroll in a post-secondary educational institution.
References
Bongaarts, J., & Feeney, G. (1998). On the quantum and tempo of fertility. Population and Development Review, 24, 271–291.
Carmichael, G. (2014). Non-marital pregnancy and the second demographic transition in Australia in historical perspective. Demographic Research, 30(21), 609–640.
Coale, A. J. (1972). The growth and structure of human populations: A mathematical investigation. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Esping-Andersen, G. (2009). The incomplete revolution: Adapting to women’s new roles. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Laughlin, L. (2013). Who’s minding the kids? Child care arrangements: Spring 2011 (Household economic studies). Washington, DC: United States Census Bureau.
McDonald, P. (2006). Low fertility and the state. Population and Development Review, 32(3), 485–510.
Monte, L. M., & Ellis, R. R. (2014). Fertility of women in the United States: 2012. Suitland: United States Census Bureau.
Piotrowski, M., Kalleberg, A. L., & Rindfuss, R. R. (2014, June). Contingent work rising: Implications for the timing of marriage in Japan. Paper presented at the meeting of the European association for population studies, Budapest.
Population Reference Bureau. (2014). 2014 world population data sheet. http://www.prb.org/pdf14/2014-world-population-data-sheet_eng.pdf. Accessed 18 Sept 2014.
Preston, S. H., Heuveline, P., & Guillot, M. (2001). Demography: Measuring and modeling population processes. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Steven, E. H. (2011). Policy concerns of low fertility for military planning in South Korea (Asia Pacific Issues No. 102). Honolulu: East–West Center.
Tesching, K. (2012). Education and fertility: Dynamic interrelations between women’s educational level, educational field and fertility in Sweden (Dissertation Series, No 6). Stockholm: Stockholm University Demography Unit.
Toulemon, L. (2011). Should governments in Europe be more aggressive in pushing for gender equality to raise fertility? The first ‘yes’. Demographic Research, 24, 179–200.
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2014). HUD releases 2009 American housing survey. http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2010/HUDNo.10-138. Accessed 18 Sept 2014.
Wachter, K. W. (2014). Essential demographic methods. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
World Bank. (2013). Data: Indicators. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN. Accessed 21 Mar 2014.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rindfuss, R.R., Choe, M.K. (2015). Diversity across Low-Fertility Countries: An Overview. In: Rindfuss, R., Choe, M. (eds) Low and Lower Fertility. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21482-5_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21482-5_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-21481-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-21482-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)