Effects of Caregiving on Women’s Employment in Japan

• In Event: 4266 - Section on Aging and the Life Course Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: 2. Caregiving

Abstract

This study investigates how caregiving affects women’s employment in Japan. Drawing on the 2005–2014 Longitudinal Survey of Middle-Aged and Elderly Persons, we examine whether a caregiving intensity threshold for quitting exists in Japan, as has been observed in other countries, and whether the associations between caregiving intensity and quitting varies by employment type, such as regular employment, non-regular employment, and self-employment. Descriptive statistics showed that, on average, about 15% of working women in their 50s provided care for their parents at some point in a one-year interval. The results of regression analyses showed that caregivers who started providing intensive care were more likely to quit their jobs than non-caregivers, although caregivers who started less intensive care were not. Separate analyses by employment type showed that overall associations between caregiving and quitting were most clearly observed among regular employees. We discuss the broad institutional context of the nation as an important underlying context of how informal caring affects the labor market outcomes of middle-aged women in Japan.

Authors

• Saeko Kikuzawa, Hosei University

• Ryotaro Uemura, Keio University