Why Are Japanese Women Having Fewer Children?
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Gender, Family and Fertility: Why are Japanese Women Having Fewer Children? Kazue Kojima PhD University of York The Center for Women’s Studies 2013 September Abstract Japanese women are having fewer children than ever before. There have been many quantitative studies undertaken to attempt to reveal the reasons behind this. The Japanese government has been concerned about the future economic decline of the country, and has been encouraging women to have more children. Although the Japanese government has been supporting women financially, it has not focused on gender equality, making it more difficult for women to be able to pursue their chosen careers. Japanese women have greater access to higher education than ever before, yet the Japanese patriarchal social structure still compels women to rely on men and all but eliminates their independence. The Japanese male-dominated society is resistant want to change. Family ties are still very strong, and women are expected to take care of the household and do unpaid work, while men work outside the home and earn a paid salary. In the labour force, women do not enjoy the same level of equality and opportunity as their male counterparts, as it is naturally marry, have children, and take care of the family. The system is skewed in favor of the males. Women are not able to pursue the same career path as men; even from the start, women are often considered as candidates for potential wives for the male workers. In the course of this research, I conducted a total of 22 interviews of single and married Japanese women. I set out to explore and discover the causes behind why Japanese women are choosing to postpone marriage and have fewer children, as well as touching upon the much deeper issue of gender inequality due to the Japanese patriarchal social structure. Women cannot live how they want to and only for themselves; they must always put their families first. This study reveals the struggles of Japanese women and how many are confused, and how some resist the patriarchal system. Many women waste their education, careers, knowledge and experience, all in the name of maintaining family ties and the patriarchal social structure. 2 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Table of Figures 7 List of Tables 9 Acknowledgements 10 Author Declaration 11 Introduction 12 Chapter 1: Fertility in Context 15 Japanese Fertility in Context 15 1. Postponing Having Children 19 2. Shorter Window of Time for Childbearing 20 3. Overall Life Course 21 4. Financial Costs and Time Costs 21 5. Birth Control 22 6. Ideal Number and Social Ideal Number of Children Decreasing 22 7. Responsibility to Have an Affordable Number of Children 23 Gender Inequality in Japan 24 1. Hierarchy and Patriarchy 24 2. Single Life 27 3. Women’s Difficulties in Keeping a Job 31 4. Lack of Support 37 5. Cohabitation and Married Parenthood 39 6. Contraception and Health Insurance 42 Question for Research 45 Chapter 2: Gender, Family and Fertility: Why are Japanese Women Having Fewer Children? 46 Research Design 46 Why qualitative research? 46 Research Strategy 49 Sampling and Participants 52 Scheduling 56 Choosing the Location 60 Interviews and Etiquette 61 The Interview Process 63 3 Creating Rapport 63 Asking Questions 67 Pre-interviews 70 Interviews 73 Sensitive Issues 76 Analysing and Writing Up 81 Reflection on the Research Process 88 Chapter 3: Gender Inequality 90 Introduction 90 Cultural and Behavioural Differences 93 Behavioural Differences 93 Girls’ Day and Boys’ Day 98 Women’s Responsibilities and Decisions 101 Keeping a job or not being able to keep a job 101 Lack of Support 110 Retirement 114 Balancing Work and Home Life 116 Expectations of being a Woman 123 The Traditional Japanese Wife and Woman 123 Intimacy & Sex Life 131 Summary 137 Chapter 4: Marriage and Family Values 139 Introduction 139 Marriage 139 Advantages of Being Married 139 The Advantages of being Single 144 Ren’ai: Love Marriage 148 Omiai: Arranged Marriage and Dating Agencies As a New form of Marriage 154 4 Why Marriage? 159 Norms and Cultural Acceptance 159 Parental Pressure 161 Family Values 165 Pressure and Relationships with parents-in-law 165 Visiting Parents-in law 167 Divorce 174 History of divorce and attitude towards divorce in Japan 174 Being patient and remaining married 176 Summary 179 Chapter 5: Economic Resources 183 Introduction 183 Gender Discrimination in the Work Force 184 Job Opportunities 184 Against Gender Appropriate Behaviour 187 Inequality Between Full- and Part-Time Workers 190 Education Expenses 194 Housing Expenses 203 Women’s Responsibility for the Household Finances 206 Summary 211 Chapter 6: Care and Welfare Policy 213 Introduction 213 Financial Support 214 Male-Dominated System 219 Breadwinner 219 Lack of Shared Responsibilities 220 Women’s Job Security 226 5 Difficulty of Keeping a Job and Career 226 Working Conditions: Inequality, Tax System and Part-Time Work 228 Maternity Rights and Protection 235 Nursery Facilities 240 Responsibilities of Child Care: ‘Good’ Mothers and ‘Bad’ Mothers 242 Summary 245 Chapter 7: Conclusion 249 Appendix 262 Appendix I: Questions for Pre-Interview 262 Appendix II: Interview Questions 264 Appendix III: Vignettes 267 Appendix IV: Sample Tax Calculation 268 Bibliography 269 6 List of Figures Figure 1: Total Fertility Rate between 1950-2010 in Japan 17 Figure 2: Education Achievements of Japanese Women and Men 28 Figure 3: Japanese, South Korean and Hong Kong women in the Labour Force by Age 33 Figure 4: Percentage of the Japanese Population with Part-Time and Temporary Jobs, by Age and Gender 36 Figure 5: Paper type of Hokensho (National Insurance Card in Japan) Using One for Whole Family Type 43 Figure 6: Card Type of Hokensho (National Insurance card in Japan) Individual Card Type 44 Figure 7: Partriarchal Society: A Vicious Circle 92 Figure 8: Differences in Ways of Sitting by Gender 96 Figure 9: Pictures of Displays for Girls’ and Boys’ Days 98 Figure 10: Participants’ Difficulties in Keeping a Job After Marrying 103 Figure 11: Naishoku 109 Figure 12: Satisfaction with Work-Life Balance 117 Figure 13: Kuromin 118 Figure 14: A Nadeshiko flower 124 Figure 15: The Benefits of Being Married 140 Figure 16: From the Patriarchal System to Gender Role Responsibility to Fewer Children 145 Figure 17: Advantages of Being Single 146 Figure 18: Akai Ito 149 Figure 19: Strong Family Ties to Low Fertility 153 Figure 20: Kisei-Rash 168 Figure 21: Bus Girl 186 Figure 22: Elevator Girl 186 Figure 23: Part-time Employment as a Proportion of Total Employment for Women in 2011 190 Figure 24: The Gender Wage Gap and Incidence of Low Pay 193 7 Figure 25: Relative Proportion of Public School Expenditure as a Percentage by Level of Education 196 Figure 26: Shataku 203 Figure 27: Kiyomi’s Vicious Circle after Marriage 218 Figure 28: My Other Respondents’ Vicious Circle (except Kiyomi) due to Male-Dominated Structures 234 8 List of Tables Table 1: Total Fertility Rates 16 Table 2 : Paid and Unpaid Work among Women and Men 38 Table 3: Proportion of Unmarried Women with a Child or Children 40 Table 4: Perceptions of Responsibilities of Contraception 42 Table 5: Interview Subjects 54 Table 6: Saki’s Daily Activities 59 Table 7: Daily Duties for Kiyomi, Her Husband and Her Parents 102 Table 8: Saki’s Weekend Activities 120 Table 9: Explanation of Sex Industries 133 Table 10: The Level of Education of Males and Females in One Dating Agency 157 Table 11: Average Incomes by Age Group 157 Table 12: Japanese Divorce Rates 175 Table 13: The Average Expenses of Education Fee Private and Public School, from Nursery till High School in Japan 195 Table 14: Annual Cost of Supplemental Education among Japanese Children per Year 199 Table 15: Annual Taxation for Wives 229 Table 16: Maternity leave and Paternity Leave 236 9 Acknowledgement First, I would like to thank to my supervisor, Stevi Jackson, for giving me the opportunity to study in the Centre for Women’s Studies at the University of York and to complete my thesis. She has always been patient with me and has always encouraged me, especially whenever I have felt discouraged with the seemingly endless process of writing and revising the thesis. I also would like to thank Professor Gabriele Griffin, Professor Sharon MacDonald and Professor Karen Munford who advised me and who provided valuable comments and feedback. I would also like to mention Professor Karen Munford, who always gave me warm words of encouragement. I am very grateful for the women who took part in this study and who graciously agreed to be participants in my interviews. I admired them and learned from their experiences. I felt very fortunate to be a part of The Centre for Women’s Studies. What I have learned from there has affected and changed my life. I would especially like to thank Ms. Harriet Badger for making it such a welcoming place. Lastly, I wish to thank all my family members, especially my mother, Chiyoko Kojima; and my father, Kosaku Kojima. Without their support and love, I probably would not have been able to finish my dissertation and to realise my dream of pursuing an academic career. 10 Author’s Declaration I certify that this thesis is solely my own work and carried out in accordance with the Regulations of the University of York. This thesis has not been used for any other degree or professional qualification. 11 Introduction Since I first became interested in low fertility rates in Japan, it has become a very topical issue. As the economic decline of Japan has deepened into a crisis, the low fertility rates there have been studied by those in many fields: scholars in the fields of economics, health, demographics, statistics, social sciences, and politics have all focused their attention on low fertility (Katayama et.