Editorial: Without Private Education Competition, Korean Women Might Have Had 0.53 More Children

South Korea’s private-education race may have reduced the number of children women had by driving families into an exhausting competition for status, according to research presented at a joint conference by the Bank of Korea, the Centre for Economic Policy Research and the OECD.

The paper, titled “Status Competition and Low Fertility in Korea,” estimated that women born between 1970 and 1975 would have had an average of 2.45 children if the status-competition effect of private education had been removed. The actual average was 1.92, a difference of 0.53 children.

The competition includes extreme practices such as preparing four-year-olds and seven-year-olds for entrance examinations and placing elementary school students in medical-school preparation classes. The editorial defines status competition as parents increasing education spending to give their children an advantage over other families’ children.

Lower-income households face the greatest strain. When high-income families increase their private-education spending, other households feel compelled to follow. Private-education costs accounted for 8.4% of income among the bottom 20% of households, compared with 5.1% among the top 20%. Total spending by elementary, middle and high school students reached 27.5 trillion won last year, while average monthly spending per student hit a record high.

The editorial argues that cash support for childcare and education has failed to lift the birth rate because families use any additional financial room to keep pace in the education race. Researchers proposed taxing private-education spending by high-income households and directing the proceeds to childbirth and childcare. The editorial says lasting change also requires better public education, greater respect for varied occupations and reforms to the labor market, where access to elite universities and quality jobs remains concentrated.