| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,880,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000)
Fiscal Year 2007: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
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| Research Abstract |
In Japan, the period from the early 1990s to the early 2000s is known as the lost decade. The standardized patterns of the Japanese life course dominant since 1970s have changed gradually from that period. During that period, the second baby boomers born in the early 1970s started to enter the labor market, in which the chances of getting a good job deteriorated due to the collapse of the bubble economy. This study aims to examine the changing patterns of the Japanese life course after the 1990s, and to clarify the current state of the Japanese welfare regime from a comparative perspective. First, this study reviews the life course research after the 1970s and points out the characteristics of Post-Fordist life course patterns evident in Western counties. Then, the study reports the results of analyses for women and the elderly, using Japanese General Social Surveys and Social Stratification Surveys. The income level of the working elderly has declined sharply since the mid-1990s. Under the economic hardship, some less affluent sons or daughters do not leave home. The elderly and children support each other by living together, although living together with children does not lead to high life satisfaction. The Japanese pattern of living together with child now turns to be a kind of survival strategy among less affluent strata. Concerning the women's life course, work life patterns in their twenties and early thirties have changed from the second baby boomers, although the M-shaped profile of women's labor force participation remained. Fulltime employment is declining and the number of part-time and other irregular employees is growing. This study demonstrates the sharp differentiation of women's life course. The changes shown in this study suggest that Japanese family-oriented welfare regime is now heading for a liberalist welfare regime. Finally. this study proposes a new idea for the life course policy.
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