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Time Poverty and Maternal Wellbeing in Japan

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Quality of Life in Japan

Part of the book series: Quality of Life in Asia ((QLAS,volume 13))

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Abstract

Using the Japanese Maternal Life and Work (LMLW) Survey data conducted in 2012 and 2014, this study explores the determinants of time poverty and its impact on the wellbeing of single mothers and married mothers in Japan. There are six main findings. First, the probability of experiencing time poverty is greater for the longer housework time group and longer working hours group: the time constraint hypothesis is supported. However, housework support from other family members is not a statistically significant influence on time poverty . Second, the influence of household income on the probability of experiencing time poverty is not statistically significant, therefore the income effect hypothesis is not supported. Third, time poverty negatively affects maternal wellbeing. Fourth, the influence of housework hours on the probability of experiencing time poverty is smaller for the single mother group than the married mother group. Fifth, the negative effect of time poverty on subjective health status and mental health disorder is smaller for the single mother group than for the married mother group. Sixth, the negative effect of time poverty on happiness is greater for the single mother group than for the married mother group.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For the study on work-life conflict, please refer Allen et al. (2000), Grzywacz and Brenda (2003), Ford et al. (2007), and Shockley and Singla (2011).

  2. 2.

    Based on the data of the National Life Basic Survey conducted in 2014 by Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare Japan, it is shown that the child relative poverty rate was 16.3% in 2013. It indicates that one in six children is in poverty. In addition, the child relative poverty rate was 54.6% for a one-parent household with a child aged less than 16 in 2013.

  3. 3.

    Living with a parent is defined as the woman living with her parents or her husband’s parents in the same house.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion Science) KAKENHI (Grant Number JP16K03611). I am grateful to Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training (JILPT) to provide the Japanese Maternal Life and Work (JMLW) Survey data. I also acknowledge professor Ming-Chang Tsai (Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences Academia Sinica Taiwan ) professor Yanfei Zhou (JILPT professor Akiko Oishi (Chiba University) the anonymous referees and editors for their many helpful comments and suggestions and Dr. Richard Lingwood for his helpful editing work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Far Eastern Studies, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan

    Xinxin Ma

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  1. Xinxin Ma
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Correspondence to Xinxin Ma .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ming-Chang Tsai

  2. Osaka University of Commerce, Osaka, Japan

    Noriko Iwai

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Ma, X. (2020). Time Poverty and Maternal Wellbeing in Japan. In: Tsai, MC., Iwai, N. (eds) Quality of Life in Japan. Quality of Life in Asia, vol 13. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8910-8_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8910-8_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-8909-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-8910-8

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