2009 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Commuting time, residence, and wages of married women

Research Project

Project/Area Number	19730170
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Applied economics
Research Institution	University of Toyama
Principal Investigator	IWATA Shinichiro University of Toyama, 経済学部, 准教授 (10334707)
Project Period (FY)	2007 – 2009
Keywords	妻の通勤時間 / 妻の賃金 / 家事負担 / 妻の余暇時間 / 生活時間
Research Abstract	The existing literature has shown that married women tend to choose short commutes because of relatively low wages combined with relatively heavy household responsibilities. The theoretical section of this paper, however, proposes that married women employed in highly paid positions also undertake short commutes, while middle-class married women choose long commutes. These results suggest that the commute times of married women display a backward-bending pattern. Using a sample of full-time employed married women in Japan, the empirical section of this paper also appears to support this finding. Moreover, the results suggest that highly paid married women can still secure greater leisure time with short commutes, despite retaining a heavy load of domestic responsibilities.