Female employment and fertility change in South Korea

Entry into motherhood, labor force participation after childbirth, and continued childbearing are important transitions in a woman’s life course. In South Korea, the welfare system mainly relies on familistic principles. Women may work before marriage, but society expects them to quit job upon family formation and expansion. In this doctoral thesis Li Ma explores how women’s employment is associated with first and second childbearing, and how women’s labor force return after childbirth varies with the business cycle in South Korea. The findings demonstrate that the labor market and fertility behavior of the increasingly well-educated Korean women are not only affected by their own individual characteristics but also by the socio-economic and institutional context of South Korea.