Gender Difference in the Influence of Housework on Voluntary Childless in Japan

Nobutaka Fukuda, Tohoku University

This study aims to examine the influence of the division of housework between husbands and wives on voluntary childlessness in Japan. Although many studies have hitherto suggested that gender inequality in housework has been regarded as a critical factor of low fertility in developed countries, little has been known regarding how this factor affects childlessness. We used data obtained from a nationwide online survey in Japan in 2019 and analyzed married respondents until age 45. We first constructed a composite variable to measure the husbands' and wives' housework. Thereafter, we used a linear probability model to examine the impact of housework burdens on voluntary childlessness. First, our results showed that gender disparity in housework increased women’s childlessness. Yet, such an effect was hardly observed for men. Second, the influence of housework burdens was greater for better-educated than less-educated women. Third, housework burdens had a similar impact on childlessness, regardless of husbands’ educational qualifications. This study first indicates that gender inequality in housework plays a vital role in women’s childlessness. Second, as women’s educational levels rise, the amount of housework has a greater impact on childlessness. Nevertheless, such a tendency is not clearly seen in men. This finding suggests that domestic gender inequality affects women’s fertility intention significantly

Keywords: Gender Dynamics, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination, Families, Unions and Households, Fertility

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