A descriptive analysis of three-generation households and mothers' employment in Japan, 2002–2019

Rie Miyazaki

doi:10.1108/ijssp-04-2021-0075

Abstract

PurposeThis article aims to explore how Japanese women with younger children changed their commitment to the labour market between 2000 and 2019 by comparing mothers in three-generation and nuclear family households.Design/methodology/approachJapan currently has the highest ageing rate in the world at nearly 30%. Since the 1990s, employment flexibilization and women's labour market participation have proceeded in parallel, and the conservative family values of the patriarchy and gender division of labour that have provided intergenerational aid for care within households have been shrinking, by conducting a descriptive analysis of the Labour Force Survey (LFS).FindingsThis study identified that a conspicuous increase in part-time employment among mothers in both household types and a decrease by half in the working mother's population in three-generation households. These results suggest that the function of inter-generational assistance by multi-generation cohabitation, which was once thought to be effective in helping working mothers with younger children, is declining.Originality/valueA study examining the transformation of mothers' employment behaviour differences between three-generation households and nuclear family households is rare. This paper makes a new contribution to the research regarding the grandparents' caregiving, household types and mothers' employment.

Highlights

In 2019, Japan had the “highest-high” elderly population percentage (28.4%) in the world, and the annual number of births reached a record low in the last half century
The aim of this study is to explore the changes that occurred in three-generation households and mothers’ employment between 2002 and 2019 in superageing Japanese society
This study examined the changes in the labour market, the family and the labour participation of working mothers in three-generation households in Japan over the two decades since 2000

Summary

Introduction

In 2019, Japan had the “highest-high” elderly population percentage (28.4%) in the world, and the annual number of births reached a record low in the last half century. The ever-declining number of three-generation households has tended to appear in higher proportions in the much older population: among those aged 65 years and over, 32.4% of men and 38.9% of women lived with their single or coupled children in 2019, and among those aged 80 years and over, this proportion reached 37.3% for men and 48.5% for women in 2019 (MHLW, 2018) This result can be explained by the younger generation’s avoidance of cohabitation and the still-strong family care responsibility, both of which are mentioned above, as well as increased health problems, especially for the elderly aged 75 years and over (Cabinet Office, 2018).

Other Total

Labour Non labour

Findings

Conclusion