ABSTRACT

Although Japan has entered a phase of population decline due to decades of low fertility, studies on the determinants of fertility choices among Japanese couples remain sparse. Previous studies, mostly conducted in Europe, suggest that men’s active involvement in household labour may promote childbearing. We tested whether men’s participation in childcare and housework has an influence on parity progression in Japan. Our results show a positive relationship between men’s participation in childcare and parity progression but no consistent relationship between men’s participation in housework and parity progression. We also observed that other factors such as the sex composition of existing children influences couples’ decision to have another child. Our findings add to the scarce literature on Japanese people’s fertility behaviour.

摘要

尽管由于几十年来的低生育率，日本已进入人口减少的阶段，但有关日本夫妇生育能力选择的决定因素的研究仍然很少。以前的研究（主要在欧洲进行）表明，男性积极参与家务劳动可能会促进生育。我们测试了男性参与育儿和家务劳动是否对日本的均等发展有影响。我们的研究结果表明，男性参与育儿和同等程度发展之间存在正相关关系，但男性参与家务和同等程度之间没有一致关系。我们还观察到其他因素，例如现有子女的性别组成，会影响夫妻决定生育另一个子女的决定。我们的发现增加了有关日本人生育行为的稀有文献。