Family structure, home time demands, and the employment patterns of Japanese married women

A recent (1990) national survey is used in an econometric analysis of Japanese women's hourly pay and employment patterns. It confirms many results from Western industrial countries but also indicates the important influence of Japan's unique family structure, the persistence of multigenerational households, on married women's employment patterns. Younger married women are more likely to take paid employment in such households, particularly on a full-time basis, than in nuclear family households. This appears to reflect in part the child-care role played by the woman's parents or parents-in-law.