Volume 28 - Article 6 | Pages 177–206  

Educational Differences in Divorce in Japan

By James Raymo, Setsuya Fukuda, Miho Iwasawa

Abstract

Background: Evidence of a negative relationship between educational attainment and divorce in Japan is not consistent with predictions derived from standard theoretical emphases on the costs of divorce.

Objective: Using marital history data from a cross-sectional survey, we estimated educational differences in divorce for two marriage cohorts: 1980-89 and 1990-2005. We also used 14 years of panel survey data to evaluate four possible explanations for the observed negative educational gradient.

Results: Our results confirmed that educational attainment is inversely related to divorce in Japan, and showed that, in contrast to some previous findings, the negative relationship between women’s education and divorce has not become stronger in recent years. Analyses of the panel data provided some support for hypotheses that focused on the role of economic strain and on cultural values regarding reputation or "face," but they also showed that the negative relationship between education and divorce remained strong even after controlling for a range of posited correlates.

Conclusions: Our failure to solve the theoretical puzzle motivating these analyses suggests that other types of contextual modification to standard theories of family change are required to explain the strong negative relationship between educational attainment and divorce in Japan. We discussed possible examples of such modifications, focusing on the patterns of selection into marriage and the central importance of investment in children’s educational success in Japan’s highly competitive educational system, while also offering more nuanced theorization regarding the role of reputation or "face".

Author's Affiliation

• James Raymo - Princeton University, United States of America EMAIL
• Setsuya Fukuda - National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, Japan EMAIL
• Miho Iwasawa - National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, Japan EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

An alternative version of the second demographic transition? Changing pathways to first marriage in Japan
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Educational differences in early childbearing: A cross-national comparative study
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Marital Dissolution in Japan: Recent Trends and Patterns
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Marriage intentions, desires, and pathways to later and less marriage in Japan
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Demographic change and increasing late singlehood in East Asia, 2010–2050
Volume 43 - Article 46

Living alone in Japan: Relationships with happiness and health
Volume 32 - Article 46

Is Buddhism the low fertility religion of Asia?
Volume 32 - Article 1

Leaving the parental home in post-war Japan: Demographic changes, stem-family norms and the transition to adulthood
Volume 20 - Article 30

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