Late Transition to Parenthood in East Asia

Late transition to parenthood in Europe has received increasing attention from family demographers and sociologists in recent years. However, similar trends unfolding in East Asia have received far less attention—despite being far more dramatic.

The median age at first birth in Hong Kong and South Korea rose to 32.7 and 32.8 respectively in 2022, marking the highest age at first birth among all high-income societies in the world. A simple estimation based on the Demographic Statistics Database from UN shows that during 2021 and 2022, about 21 per cent of all first births occurred to women aged 35+ in Singapore and Japan; these figures were even higher in South Korea (27 per cent), Hong Kong (28 per cent) and Taiwan (25 per cent). Compared to levels (less than 5 per cent) in 1990, this represents a tremendous increase. These figures are also remarkable when compared to present levels in many European countries like Austria (16 per cent), Netherlands (14 per cent), and Sweden (15 per cent). Additionally, around 5 per cent of all first births occurred among women aged 40+ in these Asian societies in 2021/2022, exhibiting a ten to twentyfold increase from levels of 0.2 per cent to 0.7 per cent in 1990.

On the one hand, the transition to parenthood is influenced by the “biological clock”. Women’s fecundability declines at an accelerating rate from age 35. Improvements in assisted reproductive technology (ART) may have extended biological deadlines to some extent. So far, research into the sociodemographic profiles of women using ART and the contribution of ART to fertility rates in these Asian countries is very limited. On the other hand, the timing for parenthood is also constrained by the “social clock” —an age range that is socially perceived as appropriate for becoming parents. Up to now, there has been no large-scale and representative survey conducted in high-income East Asian societies that would enable scholars to examine contemporary age norms of parenthood.

The phenomenon of late transition to parenthood in Asian high-income and low-fertility societies is a pressing concern with complex consequences, underscoring the need for more research to deepen our understanding of it.

Further reading:

Beaujouan, E. (2020). Latest‐late fertility? Decline and resurgence of late parenthood across the low‐fertility countries. Population and development review, 46(2), 219-247.