• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.97-116
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• 2007

As the fertility level in Korea continues to drop with detrimental implications for the society, it has regained much attention of academics and policy makers. This study, building on the previous research on fertility behavior, attempts to explore the plan of young married women to have an additional child. While such plan is not always put into practice, it is still closely related to fertility behavior. In addition, it can provide useful clues to understanding behavior in the future. Utilizing a recent nationwide survey on marriage and fertility, the study analyzes the plan of further birth among young married women according to the number of their children. The results show that the plan for first child is quite universal as no difference is found by their socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. However, having plan for second child differs by the work status of husbands, presence of mother of young married women, and the sex of first child. The effects of first two factors suggest that young married women take into consideration stability of home economics and availability of care sharing. As for the plan for the child, the present and ideal sex composition of children appear most important. The results indicate that the mechanism of fertility progression differs by the current number of children. Thus, consideration of such differential would help us deepen our understanding of fertility behaviors and need to reflect in the study. The study also argues that comprehensive and systematic qualitative research should be accompanied by to capture complexity of fertility decision making process.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.95-111
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• 2012

This study investigated the pathways of factors affecting 173 employed mothers' second childbirth plans. Participants were all employed working mothers with an infant under 10 months old. The hypothetical model used in this research proposed that workplace childcare support, social support, value of children and parenting stress of employed mothers will directly affect second childbirth plans. Additionally, workplace childcare support, social support, value of children, marital satisfaction and job satisfaction will indirectly influence second childbirth plans as a result of parenting stress. The results of this research demonstrated that value of children and parenting stress were the factors which directly affected second childbirth plans of employed mothers. In addition, workplace childcare support, social support, marital satisfaction and job satisfaction indirectly influenced second childbirth plans as a result of parenting stress. This study suggests the need for the establishment and development of workplace childcare support and the need for enhancing the value of children. This research further suggests the need for policies aimed at increasing psychological well-being and decreasing parenting stress for working mothers who are contemplating second childbirth plans.