Chronic Stress and Fertility Decline: A Bioanthropological Analysis of South Korea

Karen Park

Abstract: South Korea currently holds the world?s lowest birth rate, with women averaging 0.72 children in 2023- far below the replacement level of 2.1 needed to sustain a population. This collapse has come despite extraordinary government spending, with more than $200 billion directed toward policies intended to encourage childbirth, from cash bonuses to childcare subsidies. This paper proposes that the crisis cannot be explained by economics and culture alone. Instead, it examines how chronic stress in South Korean society may be affecting fertility at a biological level. Stress hormones such as cortisol are known to interfere with reproductive systems and research has shown that women with elevated stress biomarkers face nearly twice the risk of infertility compared to their lower-stress peers. The South Korean case is particularly significant because of the pace of decline: within a single generation, fertility has collapsed more quickly than in almost any other society. This suggests that biological mechanisms- alongside economic and cultural changes?may be contributing. Understanding this phenomenon is not only vital for South Korea but may also reveal how modern life more broadly affects human reproduction in advanced societies.

Keywords: fertility, chronic stress, reproductive biology, South Korea, demographic decline

How to Cite?: Karen Park, "Chronic Stress and Fertility Decline: A Bioanthropological Analysis of South Korea", Volume 15 Issue 1, January 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 1184-1194, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR26117144747, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR26117144747