Demographic Decline and Economic Challenges in East Asia: A Comparative Analysis of the Republic of Korea, Japan, and China
Seri Yoon
Waseda University
Although the Republic of Korea, Japan, and China are experiencing similarly rapid fertility decline and population aging, the socioeconomic consequences of these changes differ considerably across the three countries. Population decline does not operate through a single mechanism; rather, its effects are shaped by the structural conditions of households, labor markets, and local economies. Unlike Korea, where demographic anxiety is heavily concentrated in the overheated metropolitan housing market, Japan absorbs its aging burden primarily through a bifurcated labor system. China complicates this regional narrative further. Despite a shrinking national population, the slowing domestic economy is paradoxically struggling to absorb a record influx of university graduates. Across the three countries, unpaid care work remains unevenly distributed between women and men, adding to the pressures surrounding employment, marriage, and family formation. These differences imply that demographic policy cannot rely on a uniform set of incentives. Therefore, policy interventions are more likely to be effective when they respond to the particular institutional and socioeconomic constraints operating within each country.
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