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Divorce in Korea: Trends and Educational Differentials
1Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania, 3718 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Journal of Marriage and the Family
|February 27, 2013
Summary
In Korea, higher education levels correlate with a greater likelihood of divorce, a trend that has intensified over time. This educational gradient in divorce was observed across marriage cohorts from 1991 to 2006.
Area of Science:
- Sociology
- Demography
- Family Studies
Background:
- Comparative research on educational differences in divorce has yielded unexpected findings in East Asia.
- The negative educational gradient in divorce observed in Japan prompted further investigation in similar cultural contexts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze educational differences in divorce rates in Korea.
- To determine if Korea exhibits a similar negative educational gradient in divorce as observed in Japan.
- To assess the impact of the Asian economic crisis on divorce patterns by educational attainment.
Main Methods:
- Utilized vital statistics records for marriages and divorces registered between 1991 and 2006 in Korea.
- Calculated cumulative probabilities of divorce stratified by marriage cohort and educational attainment.
- Analyzed a large dataset comprising 5,734,577 marriages.
Main Results:
- A consistent negative relationship between educational attainment and divorce probability was found across all marriage cohorts.
- This negative educational gradient in divorce became more pronounced in more recent marriage cohorts.
- The Asian economic crisis did not significantly exacerbate the concentration of divorce among lower educational attainment groups.
Conclusions:
- The findings confirm a distinct East Asian pattern of divorce, characterized by a negative educational gradient.
- The study underscores the need for further research into the socio-economic factors influencing divorce in this region.
- Conventional theories emphasizing the costs of divorce may not fully explain the observed patterns in Korea and Japan.
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