Examination of the "Destandardization of Household Formation" in the Theory of the Second Demographic Transition : From the Perspective of Fertility Behavior, Gender Preferences for Children in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea

Abstract

This paper analyzes how the "Destandardization of Household Formation" is manifested in East Asia in the context of the theory of the Second Demographic Transition. Lesthaeghe, Ron and Van De Kaa, Dirk define the Second Demographic Transition as not only the change in population structure caused by a low fertility rate but also the wide spread of the destandardization and diversity in household formation. Indeed, a very low fertility rate became a common social phenomenon in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea following the 1970's and 1980s, though there is little research examining this. The aim of this paper is to analyze to what extent destandardization and diversity of household formation is spreading in East Asia. This problem is analyzed from the perspective of fertility behavior in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, with a specific focus on gender preferences for children using the data from the surveys NFRJ-S01, TSCS-2006 and KGSS-2006. The subjects of these surveys were of the generations who married between 1955 to 1994 in case of Japan, and 1965 to 1994 in case of Taiwan and South Korea. The major findings are as follows. First, a transition to a preference for daughters from a balanced preference for both sons and daughters was found in Japan. This indicates that although a destandardization of household formation is evident, this transition has not led to a diversity of household formation in Japan. Second, the continued preference for sons in Taiwan and South Korea, indicates that even destandardization of household formation has not occurred in these countries. In conclusion, the fertility behavior of people who married in a period characterized by a very low fertility rate is not diverse. This, however, doesn't undermine the validity of the theory of a Second Demographic Transition in Post War East Asia.