National Contexts and Dynamics of Married Women's Employment Reentry: The Cases of Japan and Taiwan

Abstract

Previous research has paid little attention to how the national context shapes women's work trajectories. In this study, I examine the rate of married women's labor force reentry in Japan and Taiwan, using event history data constructed from the 1995 Social Stratification and Social Mobility (SSM) Survey for the former and the 1996 Social Change (SC) Survey for the latter. The analysis reveals that Japanese women's timing of reentry reflects changes in their family roles, independent of the duration of work interruption. By contrast, the processes of Taiwanese women's employment return are less closely tied to family stages, but show patterns of duration dependence. These findings indicate that national contexts impact the dynamics of women's labor force reentry after marriage because of their differences in work–family conflict and the time sensitivity of the cost of nonemployment. These contextual differences also influence the effects of other determinants of women's rate of return, including education, husband's income potential, work commitment, and previous job experiences.