Married Mothers’ Employment in East Asian Countries: A Comparison of China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan

Abstract

Abstract This study examines married women’s employment in East Asia. The authors find that highly educated married mothers have greater bargaining power in marriage, thus allowing them to remain in the labor force. In Japan and South Korea, lower-educated mothers are more likely to be restricted to the home compared to their counterparts in Taiwan and China. Also, for married mothers living in highly educated couples, they still are less likely to remain in the labor force in Japan and South Korea than in Taiwan and China. While individual-level factors may lead to differences in mothers’ labor force participation, there may also be institutional factors that affect the impact of education on a couple’s employment pattern across East Asian societies.