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Sharing housework between husbands and wives: how to improve marital satisfaction for working wives in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Mayu Kobayashi

    (JA Bank Aichi)

  • Miki Kobayashi

    (Saga University)

  • Tsunao Okumura

    (Yokohama National University)

  • Emiko Usui

    (Hitotsubashi University and IZA)

Abstract

This paper examines whether and how the marital satisfaction of Japanese couples is related to the housework the spouse performs. For single-earner couples, both husbands and wives are more satisfied with the other spouse if the wife performs the greater share of the housework on weekdays. In dual-earner couples, both husbands and wives experience higher spousal satisfaction when the other spouse performs more housework on weekdays. Japanese dual-earner couples are unable to spend more time on housework, because wives are already performing a significant share of housework on weekdays while husbands are working long hours. JEL Classification: J12, J22

Suggested Citation

  • Mayu Kobayashi & Miki Kobayashi & Tsunao Okumura & Emiko Usui, 2016. "Sharing housework between husbands and wives: how to improve marital satisfaction for working wives in Japan," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izalpo:v:5:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1186_s40173-016-0074-9
    DOI: 10.1186/s40173-016-0074-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Wen Li & Kunio Urakawa & Fumihiko Suga, 2023. "Are Social Norms Associated with Married Women’s Labor Force Participation? A Comparison of Japan and the United States," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 193-205, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Marriage; Housework/division of labor; Satisfaction; Time use; Wives’ employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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