ABSTRACT

Using General Social Survey data from Japan and the US (N = 5101), we examine the effect of non-standard or non-regular work status on men’s fertility. We employ a cross-national comparative approach to explore how this relationship differs both within and across the two countries. Consistent with features of the Japanese context which make it challenging for non-regular workers to realise the breadwinner role we find a negative effect of non-standard work status on men’s fertility in Japan, but not the US. Specifically, Japanese men employed as non-regular workers have the lowest chances of having a child. Non-regular work status has no such effect on men’s fertility in the US. We also find that the difference in the non-standard work effect between the two countries can be accounted for by differences in the effect of marriage, which illustrates the close connection between marriage and fertility in Japan.

摘要

使用来自日本和美国的一般社会调查数据（N = 5101），我们研究了非标准或非常规工作状态对男性生育能力的影响。我们采用跨国比较方法来探索这种关系在两国内部和国家之间的差异。与日本背景的特征相吻合，这使非正规工人难以实现养家糊口的角色，我们发现非标准工作状态对日本而非美国的男性生育率具有负面影响。具体来说，被雇用为非正规工人的日本男子生孩子的机会最低。在美国，非正常工作状态对男性的生育能力没有影响。我们还发现，两国之间非标准工作效果的差异可以通过婚姻效果的差异来解释，