The Political Economy of Japan's Low Fertility

by Rosenbluth, Frances McCall

• ISBN13: 9780804754866
• ISBN10: 0804754861
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-12-08
• Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr

Summary

This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to one of Japan's thorniest public policy issues: why are women increasingly forgoing motherhood? At the heart of the matter lies a paradox: although the overall trend among rich countries is for fertility to decrease as female labor participation increases, gender-friendly countries resist the trend. Conversely, gender-unfriendly countries have lower fertility rates than they would have if they changed their labor markets to encourage the hiring of womenand therein lies Japan's problem. The authors argue that the combination of an inhospitable labor market for women and insufficient support for childcare pushes women toward working harder to promote their careers, to the detriment of childbearing. Controversial and enlightening, this book provides policy recommendations for solving not just Japan's fertility issue but those of other modern democracies facing a similar crisis.

Author Biography

Frances McCall Rosenbluth is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Leitner Program in Political Economy at Yale University. Her recent publications include The Politics of Oligarchy: Institutional Choice in Prewar Japan (1995); and Japan’s Political Marketplace (1993).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Contributors	xv
Part I. Introduction and Overview
The Political Economy of Low Fertility	3	(34)
Frances McCall Rosenbluth
Women's Economic Status and Fertility: Japan in Cross-National Perspective	37	(26)
Sawako Shirahase
Part II. Constraints on the Demand for Female Labor
Gendering the Varieties of Capitalism: Gender Bias in Skills and Social Policies	63	(24)
Margarita Estevez-Abe
Gendered Offices: A Comparative-Historical Examination of Clerical Work in Japan and the United States	87	(25)
Mary C. Brinton
Employment Options: Japan in Comparative Perspective	112	(19)
Eiko Kenjoh
Part III. Constraints on Women's Supply of Labor
Policies to Support Working Mothers and Children in Japan	131	(24)
Patricia Boling
The Political Economy of Daycare Centers in Japan	155	(15)
Junichiro Wada
The Privatized Education Market and Maternal Employment in Japan	170	(31)
Keiko Hirao
Part IV. Conclusions and Prescriptions
Conclusion	201	(18)
Frances McCall Rosenbluth
Index	219