In chapter 1, I estimate the effect of a first birth on the labor market outcomes in South Korea over time using a method proposed by Kleven, Landais, and Sogaard (2019b). In many countries, the child penalty, which is the loss in earnings associated with childbirth, is large and persistent for mothers. My results show how the child penalty in Korea is different from the one in other countries. First, I find that Korean women experience a substantial penalty in earnings with a first childbirth compared to women in other countries. Second, while the child penalty in other countries comes from both the intensive and extensive margins, the penalty for Korean women arises almost exclusively on the extensive margin. Third, I find a substantial drop in earnings for mothers even before the child is born. Finally, to shed light on the source of the child penalty, I examine several of its correlates, including marriage, the lack of work benefits, and opportunity costs.In chapter 2, I analyze the effect of skewed sex ratios at birth on the marriage market. Due to high son preference and reduced fertility rates, sex ratios at birth were skewed from the 1980s to the 2000s in South Korea. This can affect the timing of marriage when those generations start to enter the marriage market. I use large administrative data sets, including the Population Census and the Vital Statistics. The results show that a high SRB delays the marriage of men, while women marry early.In chapter 3, I review the trend in fertility rates and policy changes and finds the source of low fertility rates in Korea. The Korean government spent over 200 billion dollars to increase fertility, but the total fertility rates continues to decline. I compare the trend in fertility rates in Korea with the one in Spain, Italy, and Japan. I show that the low fertility rates in Korea result mainly from delayed marriage.
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