Family Creating Inequality

TANAKA Sigeto <http://www.sal.tohoku.ac.jp/~tsigeto/>
(Graduate School of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University)

Date: 2009-08-04

Location: Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

ReMCat: {2009:qfam:090804}

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Abstract

This presentation focuses on the gender difference in post-divorce life in contemporary Japan. The data are drawn from the National Family Research of Japan (NFRJ) project, which is a series of surveys using probability samples across Japan conducted by the Japan Society of Family Sociology. The main focus is on the gender effect on equivalent household income among divorced people. Results indicate strong negative effect of two variables: (1) presence of young children and (2) discontinuous occupational career due to childbirth or childrearing. These are the two main factors in the low standard of living for divorced women. The results thus show that the family process has created gender inequality and the family law/policy has failed to remove the inequality. Further discussion arises as to two topics: (1) formulation of the law/policy aiming at gender equality from the viewpoint of distributive justice; and (2) implications of our findings for sociological research on the power structure within family.

Keywords

equality of opportunity, remarriage, full-time regular employee, financial provision on divorce

Table of contents

1. Gender and Distributive Justice
   • 1.1. “Equality of opportunity” principle
   • 1.2. Gender equality law in Japan
   • 1.3. Family as a distribution system
   • 1.4. Measurement of economic benefits
2. Data
3. Marital Experience and Equivalent Household Income
4. Factors of the Economic Gender Gap in Post-Divorce Life
5. Discussion
   • 5.1. Findings from our analysis
   • 5.2. Law/policy implications
   • 5.3. Perspectives for intra-family distribution

List of Tables

• Table 1. Synopsis of NFRJ03
• Table 2. Log equivalent household income by household size
• Table 3. Log equivalent household income by sex and marital experience
• Table 4. Contribution to household income (among those who experienced divorce)
• Table 5. Remarriage or co-residence with parents (among those who experienced divorce)
• Table 6. Presence of children under 13 (among those who experienced divorce)
• Table 7. Percentage of full-time regular employees (among those who experienced divorce)
• Table 8. Descriptive statistics for regression analysis (for those who experienced divorce)
• Table 9. Regression analysis of log equivalent household income (for those who experienced divorce)

References

• [Gender Equality Bureau n.d.] Gender Equality Bureau, Cabinet Office. n.d. The Basic Law for a Gender-equal Society (Law No. 78 of 1999) (Tentative Translation in English). <http://www.gender.go.jp/english_contents/basic_law/>, accessed 2009-08-02.
• [Katz 1997] Elizabeth Katz. 1997. “The intra-household economics of voice and exit”. Feminist economics. 3(3): 25–46 <13545701>.
• [Matsunobu 2008] Matsunobu Hiromi. 2008. “Huuhu-kan no seiryoku to 4tu no sihon”. Ed.=Watanabe Shin. New economic sociology. Sophia University Press. Pp. 227–262 <9784324081518>.
• [Motozawa 1998] Motozawa Miyoko. 1998. Rikon kyuuhu no kenkyuu. Tokyo: Itiryuusya <4752702649>. [J]
• [Nagase 2004] Nagase Nobuko. 2004. “Ribetu bosi katei no syuugyou to tingin keiro”. Paper read at the 108th conference of Society for the Study of Social Policy (2004-05-22 Tokyo). [J]
• [OECD 2001] OECD. 2001. OECD employment outlook, June 2001. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development <9264186891>
• [Ott 1992] Notburga Ott. 1992. Intrafamily bargaining and household decisions. Springer-Verlag <0387550615>.
• [Roemer 1998] John E. Roemer. 1998. Theories of distributive justice. Harvard University Press <0674879201>.
• [Suzuki 1992] Suzuki Shinji. 1992. Rikon kyuuhu no kettei kizyun. <4335311117>. [J]
• [Tamiya+Shikata 2007] Tamiya Yuko + Shikata Masato. 2007. “Work and childcare in single mother families: a comparative analysis of mother’s time allocation”. Quarterly of social security research. 43(3):219–231 <03873064>. [J]
• [Tanaka 2008] Tanaka Sigeto. 2008. “Career, family, and economic risks: a quantitative analysis of gender gap in post-divorce life”. 2005 SSM Research Series:. 9: 21–33 <BA85450290>.

Reference list includes kanji titles and names that would otherwise be difficult to identify. In triangle brackets < > are ISBN, ISSN, URL, or NCID (see http://webcat.nii.ac.jp). [J] is for Japanese literature.

Acknowledgement

The data for this secondary analysis, National Family Research of Japan 2003 (NFRJ03) by the NFRJ Committee, Japan Society of Family Sociology, was provided by the Social Science Japan Data Archive, Information Center for Social Science Research on Japan, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo.

Related sites and pages

• Tohoku University GCOE Program
• SSJ Data Archive (University of Tokyo) / NFRJ03
• Japan Society of Family Sociology / National Family Research of Japan / NFRJ03 outline
• Presentation at the GCOE Monthly Seminar (2009-09-09 Sendai)
• “The Family and Women’s Economic Disadvantage” (eds.= Tsujimura M. + Osawa M. Gender equality in multicultural societies. Tohoku University Press. 2010)
• Similar analysis with SSM2005-J (in 2005 SSM Research Series, vol. 9, 2008)
• Similar analysis with NFRJ98 and NFRJ08 (Presentation at JSFS 20th conference, 2010-09-12 Tokyo)

Tohoku University / Faculty of Arts and Letters / Applied Japanese Linguistics / TANAKA Sigeto / Family Change in an Aging Society with Low Fertility

Copyright (c) 2010 TANAKA Sigeto

History of this page:

• 2010-07-19:Created
• 2010-07-21:Minor correction
• 2010-07-31:Table of Contents, References, and Acknowledgement added