Labor Force Dropout Of Married Women In Japan

This textbook explores recent research on the topics of gender inequalities, intergenerational support, and family in select East Asian societies, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan. East Asian societies have been undergoing rapid economic development over the last three decades, whether gender (couple) relations and families in East Asian societies have also been undergoing transformations remain less clear. The chapters in this book uncover dynamic and evolving couple and intergenerational relationships within families in East Asia, together with the persistent impact on time use, housework and childcare. They provide a rich source for understanding gender dynamics, intergenerational relations, and childbearing and rearing in East Asia, at a time when it is expected that families and gender relations in East Asia will continue to evolve with characteristics of both modern gender egalitarian values and traditional family obligations. A rare and valuable resource, this textbook will be a key resource for researchers, scholars and practitioners of Sociology, Development Studies, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Comparative studies who wish to study gender and family relations in East Asia, a rapidly developing region with a shared Confucian culture. The chapters in this volume were originally published in Chinese Sociological Review.

This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to one of Japan's thorniest public policy issues: why are women increasingly forgoing motherhood? At the heart of the matter lies a paradox: although the overall trend among rich countries is for fertility to decrease as female labor participation increases, gender-friendly countries resist the trend. Conversely, gender-unfriendly countries have lower fertility rates than they would have if they changed their labor markets to encourage the hiring of women—and therein lies Japan's problem. The authors argue that the combination of an inhospitable labor market for women and insufficient support for childcare pushes women toward working harder to promote their careers, to the detriment of childbearing. Controversial and enlightening, this book provides policy recommendations for solving not just Japan's fertility issue but those of other modern democracies facing a similar crisis.

Much of the existing literature on happiness in Japan has been produced in the field of economics and psychology and is quantitative in nature. Here, for the first time, a group of anthropologists and sociologists jointly analyze the state of happiness and unhappiness in Japan among varying social groups in its physical, interpersonal, existential and structural dimensions, offering new insights into fundamental issues. This book investigates the connections between sociostructural aspects, individual agency and happiness in contemporary Japan from a life course perspective. The contributors examine quantitative and qualitative empirical data on the processes that impact how happiness and well-being are envisioned, crafted, and debated in Japan across the life-cycle. Therefore, the book discusses the shifting notions of happiness during people’s lives from birth to death, analyzing the age group-specific experiences while taking into consideration people’s life trajectories and historical changes. It points out recent developments in regards to demographic change, late marriage, and the changing labor market and focuses on their significant impact on the well-being of Japanese people. In particular it highlights the interdependencies of lives within the family and how families are collaborating for the purpose of maintaining or enhancing the happiness of its members. Broadening our understanding of the multidimensionality of happiness in Japan, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Japanese Studies, Anthropology, and Sociology.