Marriage and Housework: Analyzing the Effects of Education Using the 2011 and 2016 Japanese Survey on Time Use and Leisure Activities

We analyze cross-sectional time-use diaries from the 2011 and 2016 Survey on Time Use and Leisure Activities (Shakai Seikatsu Kihon Chosa) to investigate the association between educational level and housework participation in contexts where educational attainment among women does not readily translate into workforce stability. We test whether higher levels of educational attainment are associated with the decrease in housework participation as the previous research in countries of the global north suggests. Our findings reveal that education is not likely to reduce housework participation among Japanese women. Married Japanese women with children are unlikely to reduce their time spent on housework with the increase of their educational level and married Japanese women without children are more likely to increase their housework participation proportionately to the level of their education. The results suggest that in Japan, the supply-side solutions to gender inequality (such as increasing educational opportunities for women) do not remedy the situation. The country needs to address structural and institutional barriers to gender equality.