3 ms·
70% of Japanese answered "it's hard to find a job which supports raising children". Japanese society is still rooted in women quitting when they have kids and b
by rjh29 3y ago
70% of Japanese answered "it's hard to find a job which supports raising children". Japanese society is still rooted in women quitting when they have kids and being stay at home moms. Even though now 60% of couples have two earners, this hasn't changed fast enough. The economy is doing badly too, and people have less money than before.
In Japan, marriage = kids, there are few children born outside of marriage. Increasingly people are marrying later or not marrying at all, which has a direct effect on that. There are other reasons: women still end up doing way more of the housework and childrearing than men (on average) in Japan; men work longer hours and don't get to spend time with the kids they're raising; in a divorce women almost always get full custody. Mother in laws used to live with the family and help, but that is less common now. Two earner households are more common. Women are focusing on careers more.
The overall picture is similar to other countries - a rejection of the traditional marriage and kids plan in favour of spending time on other activities in ones 20s and 30s - but unique societal factors make it more prominent here.
- jnwatson 3y agoIt seems these are all structural problems that Japan can address directly. Universal child care, family leave might help. Still, I look at the generation younger than me in the US and see them in the same spot. We’d already be in their situation if it weren’t for immigration.
- houseatrielah 3y agoJapan seems like a cheap place to raise a family. Housing is cheap and so is medical care. I assume public school is free. Why the average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month https://archive.curbed.com/2017/2/3/14496248/tokyo-real-estate-affordable-homes https://archive.curbed.com/2017/2/3/14496248/tokyo-real-esta...
- iteria 3y agoI will tell anyone that there are two truths about children 1) they cost exactly as much money as you have and 2) the heaviest cost is time. I'm a high earner. I have no money issues, what I have are time issues. I'm a single parent with high flexibility and every single struggle I have with my child could be relieved by having a homemaker to distract my kid and take care of the impacts of my kid. I do more than double laundry and clean more often and burn hours at places I don't necessarily want to be but the kid does. My career has stalled out because I don't have the extra hours it takes to get promoted. Now imagine this in Japan where they're not just working 40 hours a week, looking at add 5-10 more for advancement. That's the issue of children in my opinion. It's why very wealthy people hire nannies. It's the only way to free the most value resource you spend on children: time.
- igetspam 3y agoThis. I'm not a single parent and I'm a high earner but my wife has chronic medical issues. I spend a lot more of my time on home things now because I have a kid and it's demanding. When our kid is school, I can focus. When they're not, I struggle to perform. If I had enough spare money to have a full time nanny/housekeeper, my live would be much easier and my kid would probably be happier because our time with them would be higher value. I can absolutely see why people would opt out. It's hard.
- glimshe 3y agoI fully agree with your point about time being the heaviest cost - and if you are a person that equates time with money (not every person can transform their time into a lot of money), then yes, it's also expensive in raw dollars. However, for some people in occupations who don't pay a lot, kids aren't THAT expensive in raw dollars, at least in the US South.
- iteria 3y agoThat was my point. Which is that Japan being cheap doesn't mitigate anything. Time is the critical factor there. Until they have more free time, no one is having more kids.
- twelve40 3y agothat really doesn't explain why they keep having less kids, not more. Since the 80's their fertility rate dropped by some 30% but i doubt the 80's there were any less cutthroat or careerist than today.
- iteria 3y agoBecause women entered the workforce. That's it. A couple has collective time. Before one partner has a lot of time. Right now that is not true and every year more and more couples have two workers. Honestly women working accounts for declining birth rates everywhere. Japan just has it the worst because of their work culture and regular culture. A woman knows that the moment that she gets married, she'll be discriminated against and perhaps just forced out of the work place, so she doesn't. In Japan no one has kids out of wedlock. There you do. Continously declining birth rates from women marrying less and more couples with dual incomes.
- thefz 3y ago> Japan seems like a cheap place to raise a family. Housing is cheap and so is medical care. I assume public school is free. This has nothing to do about money and is about time. A couple busy for 12-16 hours every day can't raise even an houseplant.
- houseatrielah 3y agoWhy does a family need two incomes if the rent is only $850?
- fomine3 3y agoSalary is also lower.