N. Ogawa et Jf. Ermisch, FAMILY-STRUCTURE, HOME TIME DEMANDS, AND THE EMPLOYMENT PATTERNS OF JAPANESE MARRIED-WOMEN, Journal of labor economics, 14(4), 1996, pp. 677-702
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 impor
tant 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.