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Sam Hyun Yoo

Hanyang University · Social Sciences

About the Lab

Professor Sam Hyun Yoo's research lab focuses on reproductive health and fertility dynamics in East Asia, with a particular emphasis on South Korea. The lab investigates the interplay between social attitudes—such as ambivalence toward pregnancy, son preference, and fertility intentions—and reproductive behaviors, including contraceptive use and childbearing timing. Research also examines the impact of socioeconomic, cultural, and policy factors on fertility transitions, especially in contexts of rapid demographic change and low fertility. The lab employs longitudinal and nationally representative survey data to analyze how individual, familial, and structural factors shape reproductive decisions.

fertility transitionfertility intentionsreproductive behaviorson preferencelow fertility

Research Overview

Papers
20
Total Citations
275
Papers (5y)
9
Primary Field
Social Sciences

Research Output Trend

Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.

Publications per year (5y)
9total
2020
2021
2022
2024
2026
Citations per year (5y)
29total
20202021202220242026

Selected Papers

15
1
Article|56 citations·2014
Understanding the Complexity of Ambivalence Toward Pregnancy: Does It Predict Inconsistent Use of Contraception?
Sam Hyun Yoo, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Sarah R. Hayford
SJR Q2Biodemography and Social Biology

Ambivalence towards future pregnancy is common and may increase the risk of unprotected sex and unintended pregnancy. We propose that ambivalent attitudes toward pregnancy consist of subtypes that are differentially associated with contraceptive use. Using data from a nationally representative survey of unmarried young adults (N = 1,147), we constructed four categories of ambivalence based on attitudes toward a hypothetical pregnancy. Multivariate analyses examined characteristics of ambivalence

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthMedicine
2
Article|55 citations·2018
Ultra-low fertility in South Korea: The role of the tempo effect
Sam Hyun Yoo, Tomáš Sobotka
SJR Q1Demographic ResearchOA

The total fertility rate (TFR) in South Korea has fallen below 1.3 since 2001. The role of the rapid shift toward a late-childbearing pattern in driving Korean fertility decline to this ultra-low level has been little explored until now.

DemographySocial Sciences
3
Article|47 citations·2014
Educational differentials in cohort fertility during the fertility transition in South Korea
Sam Hyun Yoo
SJR Q1Demographic ResearchOA

While there has been a considerable amount of research on the association between women’s education and fertility rates, few of these studies have examined the pattern of fertility differentials over the course of the fertility transition. As a country tha

Gender StudiesSocial Sciences
4
Article|37 citations·2016
Old Habits Die Hard? Lingering Son Preference in an Era of Normalizing Sex Ratios at Birth in South Korea
Sam Hyun Yoo, Sarah R. Hayford, Victor Agadjanian
SJR Q1Population Research and Policy ReviewOA

South Korea was among the first countries to report both an abnormally high sex ratio at birth (SRB) and its subsequent normalization. We examine the role of son preference in driving fertility intentions during a period of declining SRB and consider the contribution of individual characteristics and broader social context to explaining changes in intentions. We employ data from the National Survey on Fertility, Family Health and Welfare that span 1991-2012. We find that reported son preference

Gender StudiesSocial Sciences
5
Article|32 citations·2016
Postponement and recuperation in cohort marriage: The experience of South Korea
Sam Hyun Yoo
SJR Q1Demographic ResearchOA

Despite continuing marriage delay in East Asia, little is known about the shift of marriage towards later ages and the concomitant decline in marriage.

DemographySocial Sciences
6
Article|12 citations·2018
Migration, legality, and fertility regulation: Abortion and contraception among migrants and natives in Russia
Victor Agadjanian, Sam Hyun Yoo
SJR Q1Demographic ResearchOA

Migrant-vs.-native differentials in reproductive behavior are typically examined through the prism of socioeconomic and cultural constraints that characterize the migration process and experiences. However, the literature seldom factors in migrant legal st

Gender StudiesSocial Sciences
7
Article|10 citations·2022
Total number of births shrinking faster than fertility rates: fertility quantum decline and shrinking generation size in South Korea
Sam Hyun Yoo
SJR Q1Asian Population Studies

South Korea’s total fertility rate reached 1.3 in 2001 and hit a record low (0.92) in 2019. The total number of births shrank even faster, recording a 45.9 per cent drop between 2001 and 2019. To understand the declining births and the contributing demographic factors, I decompose the change in the birth rate into mean generation size, fertility quantum, and tempo distortions, and evaluate their relative contributions to the decline. The remarkable birth decline since 2001 is largely explained b

Gender StudiesSocial Sciences
8
Article|9 citations·2021
The paradox of change: Religion and fertility decline in South Korea
Sam Hyun Yoo, Victor Agadjanian
SJR Q1Demographic ResearchOA

The scholarship on the association of religion and fertility has paid relatively little attention to East Asia, a region that has experienced rapid fertility declines. South Korea is an important setting to study this association as its fertility decreased

Gender StudiesSocial Sciences
9
Article|7 citations·2024
Drought and migration: a case study of rural Mozambique
Sam Hyun Yoo, Victor Agadjanian
SJR Q1Population and EnvironmentOA
Sociology and Political ScienceSocial Sciences
10
Article|5 citations·2019
Intermarriage and Divorce in South Korea
Sam Hyun Yoo, Jungkyun Ryu
Korea Journal of Population Studies

국제결혼 부부의 결혼안정성은 외국인 배우자의 적응과 사회적 통합이라는 측면에서 중요한 의미를 갖는다. 이 논문은 우리 사회에서 한국인과 외국인의 결합으로 구성된 국제결혼 부부의 결혼안정성이 한국인끼리 결합된 한국인 부부와 구별되는지를 확인하고 그 인과관계를 좀 더 이해하기 위한 것이다. 2010~2016년 혼인과 이혼 동태통계 원자료를 활용하여 2010년 결혼코호트를 대상으로 이혼까지 걸린 시간을 이산시간위험모형(discrete-time hazard model)을 통해 분석하였다. 분석결과 남편 또는 아내의 출생국적이 한국이 아닌 외국일 경우 각각 양측 모두 한국인인 부부에 비해 이혼위험이 높은 것으로 나타났다. 남편 보다는 아내가 외국인일 경우 이혼위험이 상대적으로 더 높았으며, 남편과 아내의 교육수준과 혼인연령을 고려할 경우 두 집단의 이혼위험 차이가 크게 감소하였다. 특히 외국인 남편과 아내의 출신 국적별로 세분화하였을 때, 남편의 출생국적이 미국, 아내의 출생국적인 베트남이나

Sociology and Political ScienceSocial Sciences
11
Article|2 citations·2022
Trends in Marital Fertility, 2005~2020: Duration-Based Approach
Bongoh Kye, Sam Hyun Yoo, Seul Ki Choi
Korea Journal of Population Studies

이 연구는 한국의 유배우 출산율 변화를 분석하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 혼외출산이 매우 드문 우리 사회에서 유배우 출산율 분석은 한국의 출산율 변화를 이해하는 데 유용하다. 기존 연구들은 2010년대 중반까지 한국의 출산율 변화가 주로 혼인율의 하락에 기인했음을 보여주었다. 하지만 2015년 이후 진행 중인 합계출산율 하락세는 새로운 추세변화를 동반한 것일 수 있다. 이 연구는 연령에 기반한 유배우 합계출산율(Total Marital Fertility Rate)의 약점을 보완할 수 있는 (혼인)기간에 기반한 접근법(duration-based approach)을 토대로 유배우 합계출산율(Duration-based Total Marital Fertility Rate, TMFRd)을 산출하고 이 지표의 변화추이를 제시한다. 분석결과는 다음과 같이 요약할 수 있다. 첫째, 연령별 유배우 출산율의 합인 유배우 합계 출산율은 비정상적으로 높게 나타나는 반면 TMFRd는 합리적인 수준의 추정치를

Cultural StudiesSocial Sciences
12
Article|1 citations·2015
Convergence towards Diversity? Cohort Analysis of Fertility and Family Formation in South Korea
Sam Hyun Yoo
Gender StudiesSocial Sciences
13
Article|1 citations·2022
출산의 지연변천 분석과 완결출산율 추계
유삼현

출산의 지연변천(postponement transition of fertility)은 저출산 사회의 출산율 변동을 출산연령의 증가와 출산수준의 복잡한 상호작용으로 설명하는 인구학적 개념이다. 이 연구는 출산의 지연변천을 한국 사회에 적용하여 코호트 관점에서 분석하고, 그 결과를 토대로 코호트 완결출산율을 전망한다. 1981∼2020년 출생신고자료와 추계인구를 사용하여 준거모형과 관계모형 등 세부 분석방법을 적용하였다. 연구결과, 한국 사회에서 1969년 출생코호트 이후 출산의 지연변천이 진행되어 왔음을 확인하였다. 1969년 출생코호트 대비 후행 출생코호트에서 20대의 출산율 감소가 지속되는 반면, 30대 이후 출산율 반등은 상대적으로 제한적인 수준에 머무르고 있었다. 출산지연과 회복의 전개과정이 현 수준으로 유지될 경우 1980년대에 출생한 코호트에서도 완결출산율 하락이 지속될 것으로 전망된다. 이 연구는 출산의 지연과 회복 과정을 실증적으로 분석하고, 출산율 변동에 관해 코호트

14
Article|1 citations·2017
Ultra-Low Fertility in Korea: The Role of Tempo Effect
Sam Hyun Yoo, Tomáš Sobotka
IIASA PURE (International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis)OA

Background: The total fertility rate (TFR) in South Korea has fallen below 1.3 since 2001. However, little is known about the role of the rapid shift towards late childbearing in driving Korean fertility decline to this “ultra-low” level.
\nObjective: We provide an in-depth analysis of period fertility trends by birth order in South Korea from 1981 to 2014 when the period TFR fell from 2.66 to extreme low levels.
\nMethods: We combine census and birth registration data to estimate period

DemographySocial Sciences
15
Article|0 citations·2026
Place of Birth, Population Structure, and Native Youth Retention
Sam Hyun Yoo
Korea Journal of Population Studies
Sociology and Political ScienceSocial Sciences

Research Areas

Gender StudiesDemographySociology and Political SciencePublic Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthCultural StudiesEconomics and Econometrics

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