Abstract
Unpaid housework among married working couples is largely done by women in Japan, causing health losses due to work-to-family conflict. However, monetary values for the poor health condition of working mothers with multiple roles have not been explored. The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of health conditions on life satisfaction (LS) among middle-aged Japanese men and women and attach a monetary value to self-assessed poor health (SAPH). The well-being valuation approach applied monetary values to health losses among middle-aged working persons, using a total of 6,779 married workers drawn from a nationwide 6 wave (2007, 2009, 2011–2014) longitudinal data from the Japanese Life Course Panel Survey of Middle-aged Persons. Female workers having multiple roles as employees and housewives, who spent at least 35 hours per week on market work are defined as women with multiple roles. LS was used as a proxy of individuals’ subjective well-being. Considering the endogeneity between SAPH and LS, I used the two-stage residual inclusion approach with generalized residuals. Major findings are (1) health losses of women with multiple roles were 1.47 times of the equivalent household income; larger than those of men with multiple roles, and (2) health losses of women with multiple roles can be reduced by around 9.5% of the equivalent household income if the spouse shares the housework by engaging in frequent cleaning of the house. Taking health losses of women with multiple roles into consideration, middle-aged men should reconsider the allocation of work attributable to the attitudes toward gender roles.
Highlights
IntroductionAre middle-aged women who engage in several roles, healthier and happier than those with fewer roles?
Are middle-aged women who engage in several roles, healthier and happier than those with fewer roles? Research on the effects of multiple roles of employee, mother, and spouse on women’s health have found little evidence that the role combination of employment and motherhood resulted in harmful health effects [1,2,3,4,5]
The results suggest that health losses of women with multiple roles can be reduced by around 9.5% of the equivalent household income if their husbands frequently engage in house cleaning activities
Summary
Are middle-aged women who engage in several roles, healthier and happier than those with fewer roles? Research on the effects of multiple roles of employee, mother, and spouse on women’s health have found little evidence that the role combination of employment and motherhood resulted in harmful health effects [1,2,3,4,5]. The association between women’s employment status and their perceived health is not similar among European countries. Part-time employment was associated with better health than full-time employment among mothers in the Netherlands [6].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
