A questionnaire study on attitudes toward birth and child-rearing of university students in Japan, China, and South Korea

This study examines the attitudes of young Japanese, Chinese, and South Koreans toward birth and child-rearing. The survey targeted four-year university students (n = 1,668) who responded to an anonymous survey using self-report questionnaires between December 2012 and April 2013. The collection rates were 72.5%, 94.7%, and 96.5% for the Japanese, Chinese, and South Korean students, respectively. Correlations among the respondents' attributes, medical and scientific literacy levels, and views of preferred qualities of children were analyzed using chi-square test, supplemented by residual analysis (significance level set at p < 0.05). Participants were asked whether they were willing to use the following methods for obtaining preferred qualities in their children: (1) choosing a spouse (43.2%, 72.6%, and 85.1% of the Japanese, Chinese, and South Koreans, respectively, agreed); (2) using a sperm bank (cryobank) (5.8%, 60.1%, and 81.7% of the Japanese, Chines, and South Koreans, respectively, agreed); and (3) using an egg cell bank (ova bank or cryobank) (5.3%, 47.2%, and 70.3% of the Japanese, Chinese, and South Koreans, respectively, agreed). The proportion of affirmative responses (indicating "eugenic inclination") to these statements was significantly higher among the Chinese and South Korean participants than their Japanese counterparts (p < 0.001). Significant differences were also found in the attitudes of the 3 groups toward methods for obtaining the preferred qualities for their children: prenatal diagnosis, pre-implantation diagnosis, the environment during pregnancy, and child-rearing.