What's happening to marriage in East Asia?

Publication Date: January 1998

Publisher: East-West Center

Author(s): Sidney B. Westley

Research Area: Social conditions

Type: Brief

Abstract:

A trend toward late marriage has brought birth rates in Japan and South Korea to unprecedented low levels. In recent surveys, young people in these countries have expressed more negative attitudes about marriage than young people in the United States, and married people in Japan and South Korea have expressed less satisfaction with their marriages than their American counterparts. Women's views on marriage may be affected by the disproportionate burden of housework reported by married women, even those who work fulltime outside the home. Policymakers might counter attitudes associated with low fertility by making employment conditions more favorable to women who are married.