Volume 27 - Article 24 | Pages 705–718  

Employment and household tasks of Japanese couples, 1994-2009

By Noriko O. Tsuya, Larry L. Bumpass, Minja K. Choe, Ronald R. Rindfuss

Abstract

Objective: The paper examines changes in the relationship between employment and household tasks of Japanese couples, using data drawn from national cross-sectional surveys in 1994, 2000, and 2009 of persons aged 20–49, and from the 2009 follow-up of the 2000 survey.

Results: Wives' employment is structured by their husbands' employment time and earning power, as well as by their family situations, including the presence and age of children and co-residence with parents. Housework hours of husbands, though very low, increased over time, while wives’ hours decreased. Wives’ housework time decreases as their employment time increases. Marriage dramatically increases women’s housework time but produces little change in men's time. Husbands' housework hours are positively correlated with reported marital satisfaction of both spouses.

Author's Affiliation

• Noriko O. Tsuya - Keio University, Japan EMAIL
• Larry L. Bumpass - University of Wisconsin–Madison, United States of America EMAIL
• Minja K. Choe - East-West Center, United States of America EMAIL
• Ronald R. Rindfuss - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States of America EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Do low survey response rates bias results? Evidence from Japan
Volume 32 - Article 26

Cohabitation and children's living arrangements: New estimates from the United States
Volume 19 - Article 47

Marital Dissolution in Japan: Recent Trends and Patterns
Volume 11 - Article 14

The topography of the divorce plateau: Levels and trends in union stability in the United States after 1980
Volume 8 - Article 8

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