Motherhood and Work in Contemporary Japan by Nishimura Junko

Author:Nishimura Junko [Junko, Nishimura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Women's Studies, Gender Studies, Sociology, Marriage & Family
ISBN: 9781317372738
Google: qhC4CwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-03-10T06:01:44+00:00

Effects of women’s occupation, household economic status and social support on women’s employment in the year of first birth

This section examines effects of women’s occupation, household economic status and family support 2 years before childbirth on employment of women who gave birth after the survey began. Because the sample size is small, the analysis is conducted without dividing samples by birth cohort.

Model 2 in Table 5.1 examines the effects of women’s occupation, age of their first child, husband’s income and the possibility of support from the husband or parents 2 years before first childbirth on women’s employment and regular employment in the year of first birth. For employment in the year of birth, the following variables’ effects were considered: women’s educational attainment, unemployment rate 2 years before the birth, birth cohort, age at the birth of the first child, whether the woman was a regular employee 2 years before the birth, the size of the firm at which the woman worked 2 years before the birth, distance of residence from parents, husband’s income and whether the husband worked in public offices. When considering regular employment, in addition to these other variables, the effect of type of occupation 2 years before the birth was also considered.

Results show that age at the birth of the first child, regular employment 2 years before the birth and working in public offices (vs. working at a firm with over 1000 employees) positively affected women’s employment in the year of birth. As for regular employment, those who worked in public offices were more likely to be regular employees in the year of the birth.

As mentioned, working in public offices and being a regular employee before birth were two significant factors that affected employment in the year of first birth. When only regular employment was considered, working in public offices showed the greatest effect on regular employment in the year of birth. In contrast, educational attainment showed no effect.

This suggests that for employment from 2 years before childbirth until the year of birth, the type of workplace (public office) and employment status (regular employee) are significantly important. Educational attainment may make it more likely for women to find positions as regular employees or in workplaces that will allow them to remain in the labour force, but it does not necessarily facilitate their employment per se.

These results also show that only women who are in specific workplaces or who hold a specific employment status are able to remain in the labour force until childbirth. Since only women who work in public offices or those who are regular employees are able to remain in the labour force, all other women employed at other workplaces or those who are not regular employees are not afforded the opportunity to remain in the labour force until childbirth. Therefore, as discussed in Chapter 4, as many as 70% of women born in the 1960s and 1970s were outside the labour force in the year of childbirth.

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