Most of the problems confronting the world come down to population growth. But where women are given the choice, they limit the number of children they have.
Following a 30-year boy-to-girl birth rate imbalance, up to 800,000 ‘extra’ men born since the mid-1980s will be unable to find a South Korean woman to marry. That has big demographic consequences.
Childbearing goals have remained remarkably consistent over the decades. What has changed is when people start their families and how many kids they end up having.
Economic opportunities, social norms and expanding education and employment options for many women help explain why U.S. fertility has slowed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
South Korea is facing a low fertility trend. Valentine’s Day serves as a reminder to help ease the domestic burden on young women so they can consider partnerships again.