The Impact of Husband’s Job Loss on Divorce (in Japanese)

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the husband’s job loss on divorce by using the Keio Household Panel Survey (KHPS) and Japanese Panel Survey of Consumers (JPSC). The Japanese labor market has deteriorated and unemployment rate has also increased since the collapse of the bubble economy. The rise of unemployment rate had a great impact on the Japanese household, and augmented the husband’s job loss. This husband’s job loss led to suppression of consumption, usage of savings, and an increase in the wife’s labor supply. Furthermore, it was thought to have impact on family dissolution. Although, Charles and Stephens (2004) and Doiron and Mendolia (2012) examined this relationship in overseas studies, there are only a few such studies in Japan. Therefore, the impact of husband’s job loss on divorce is examined in this paper. Two key points are uncovered as a result of analysis.Firstly, the results of the analysis using the KHPS reveal that the husband’s job loss at two years ago increases the probability of divorce. On the other hand, the results of the analysis using the JPSC reveal that the husband’s job loss at one year ago increases the probability of divorce. These results indicate that husband’s job loss at one or two year ago causes family dissolution. Secondly, the results of the analysis which add the husband’s earning difference to independent variables reveal that the impact of the husband’s job loss on divorce is not changed. These results indicate that the factor of husband’s job loss except for fluctuation of earning is considered to affect the probability of divorce. As Charles and Stephens (2004) pointed out, job loss is regarded as a stigma that is likely to be regarded negatively by the spouse.