"Highly Educated K-Mom's Solo Parenting... Urgent Need for Dad's Participation" [K Population Strategy]

(49) Interview with Matthias Doepke, Professor at LSE, Author of 'The Economics of Childbirth: A New Era'
"Work-family balance is crucial... Educational zeal also fuels low birth rates"

Editor's NoteThe key to solving South Korea's population problem lies within companies. A corporate atmosphere that evaluates employees based on work regardless of gender and a family-friendly culture are crucial to addressing the K-population issue. Although low birth rates result from complex factors, it is important to ensure that workplace burdens do not become obstacles that make people hesitate to have children. Asia Economy is visiting companies leading family-friendly policies to identify the factors that have allowed these systems to stabilize, and will explore multifaceted solutions with companies that lack realistic conditions. Through this, we aim to encourage change starting from companies and analyze the government's role in enabling this. We listen to voices emphasizing that company culture and atmosphere that reduce psychological burdens are more critical than financial support, and propose alternatives from various perspectives.

As women entered the labor market, the world underwent significant changes. One of these was the issue of pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare. For female workers entering a highly competitive labor market, these became 'opportunity costs' that required sacrificing not only wages but also careers. It was perhaps natural that birth rates declined in high-income countries where the number of female workers rapidly increased. In the 1980s, high-income countries with many female workers had lower birth rates than poorer countries where many women did not work.

However, this situation began to reverse over the past 20 years. Four German economists analyzed birth rates and the expansion of women's social participation in OECD member countries in their 2022 paper, "The Economics of Fertility: A New Era," and found a major shift where birth rates in high-income countries have become higher than those in poorer countries. The key was whether an environment enabling the combination of work and childcare could be established. This study attracted attention from international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and foreign media including the British weekly The Economist.

Matthias Doepke, Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK

They focused on South Korea, a high-income country with a total fertility rate below one. Matthias Doepke, a professor of economics at the London School of Economics (LSE) and one of the paper's authors (pictured), said in an interview with Asia Economy on the 26th, "Korean women have high educational attainment, but significant gender gaps still exist in the labor market," adding, "Complex social norms also create constraints, such as the expectation that mothers will take on most childcare and the rigid work environment that makes it difficult for fathers to exercise flexibility in working hours or location."

Raising Birth Rates Difficult in South Korea... "Reluctance to Have Second Child Due to Educational Zeal"

Professor Doepke evaluated that the reason birth rates have increased in high-income countries is that they have created environments where work and family life can coexist. He analyzed that four factors are especially important for raising birth rates: family policies including parental leave, cooperative fathers, favorable social norms that support families, and flexible labor markets.

When asked which of the four factors mentioned in the paper stands out as the cause of South Korea's low birth rate, Professor Doepke replied, "All factors come into play in South Korea." While women's educational levels and social participation are high, the environment makes it difficult to use family policies such as maternity and parental leave. Childcare burdens fall disproportionately on women, making it realistically difficult for fathers to participate in childcare and inevitably causing career interruptions for mothers.

He also analyzed that "because childbirth outside of marriage (legal marriage) is difficult, only children born within married families receive benefits, preventing other family forms from emerging and affecting the low birth rate problem."

Professor Doepke also saw South Korea's 'educational zeal' as contributing to the low birth rate problem. He pointed out that in high-income Asian countries like South Korea and China, the atmosphere where children's educational success leads to higher social status causes low birth rates. He explained, "South Korea's education system can be considered successful in terms of children's achievement, but it places a heavy burden on families to support children's education," adding, "This causes parents to hesitate to have one or two or more children."

Regarding which of the four factors is most likely to change quickly in addressing the low birth rate, Professor Doepke said, "Family policies and labor market policies can change the fastest," emphasizing that government determination and vision are most needed. He explained that if the government implements policies on a large scale, the usage rates of maternity and parental leave will increase, and securing stable, good jobs will become easier, reducing career interruptions for working parents. He added, "As Scandinavian (Northern European) countries have done, if the government leads policy changes first, social norms such as increased paternal childcare will follow."

"Corporate Role Important... Supporting Work-Family Balance Helps Attract Talent"

Professor Doepke believes that the key factor influencing female workers' decision to have children is ultimately the ability to balance work and family. He also sees that couples who appropriately share childcare are more likely to have more than one child.

He emphasized that "corporate culture and, more generally, workplace culture are important parts" in this process. As a representative example, he mentioned that if a corporate culture requires fathers to work long hours even though they want to spend more time with their children, they must sacrifice career goals such as promotions for childcare.

A representative policy companies can offer working parents is paternity leave. However, paternity leave remains difficult to use both domestically and internationally. According to the World Bank (WB), the number of countries legally guaranteeing paternity leave (including parental leave) expanded from 13 in 1970 to 114 in 2021, but the average actual usage days of parental leave in 2021 showed a large gap: 191 days for women and 21 days for men.

Professor Doepke said, "It seems to be due to resistance from social norms both at home and at work," explaining, "Even in Scandinavian countries, fathers fear being perceived as less committed to work if they take paternity leave longer than the minimum required period." However, he added, "Today, many men want to take significant responsibility for childcare compared to previous generations," and "Although social change is slow and gradual, many countries have already made considerable progress compared to the completely biased situation 30 to 40 years ago."

Professor Doepke predicts that using work-family balance policies will benefit not only employees but also companies. He said, "Companies that help balance careers and family will have an advantage in attracting young workers who want both," and at the same time, "They will be attractive companies to ambitious women who are often underutilized." This means it will be advantageous in recruiting not only young people dreaming of work-life balance but also female talent in a rapidly changing era.

Furthermore, he believes that eliminating gender discrimination within companies and providing equal opportunities to all will benefit existing families and companies and also help encourage having children. This was in response to a question about whether improving gender inequality in companies?where the proportion of female executives remains low and women's wages are lower than men's?would help work-family balance. He said, "Even in such situations, as there are differences in job preferences between women and men, complete gender equality in all aspects may not be achieved," but added, "However, this is due to individual choices, not the result of social norms or discrimination."

"Policies Should Be Designed with the Family's Future 10-20 Years Ahead in Mind"

Professor Doepke said that the global expansion of efforts to balance work and family is "inevitable." He evaluated, "The increase in female labor force participation is a natural result of technological change and improved female education levels," adding, "The current conflicts between work and family arise because current economic realities and social norms and institutions formed in previous eras cannot coexist." He added, "But over time, norms and institutions have always been adjusted," and "Restoring balance between work and family is an important part of this adjustment."

However, Professor Doepke asserted in the paper that policymakers in countries struggling with low birth rates will find it difficult to obtain easy and immediate solutions. This is because social norms and overall labor market conditions are not easily changed overnight. Nevertheless, since the current ultra-low birth rate problem is not an 'inescapable fate' but a result reflecting social policies, institutions, and norms, it can be sufficiently improved.

He advised policymakers to "think about what kind of future we are striving for families 10 to 20 years from now." He said, "I don't think we can return to the past where gender roles were strictly divided," and "Returning to the past is wrong from the perspectives of equality and economic efficiency." He emphasized, "Both women and men need flexibility to divide their time well between work and family, and generally, environments with less conflict between work and family should be established."

Professor Doepke believes that the four factors should be introduced simultaneously and comprehensively. He said, "Some come from policy aspects such as paternity leave and childcare/education-related systems, and some come from workplace culture," adding, "For example, if some weekdays allow telecommuting and working hours are slightly reduced during the week, it would greatly help families."

He is optimistic that change will occur, saying, "History has shown that when economic and social changes create new economic realities, institutions and social norms ultimately catch up to coexist with the new environment."

Special Coverage Team 'K-Population Strategy - Gender Equality is the Answer'

Reporters Yuri Kim, Hyunju Lee, Hyunjin Jung, Aeri Boo, Byungseon Gong, Juni Park, Seungseop Song
Editor in Economics and Finance Pilsoo Kim