Who is Happier in Japan, a Housewife or Working Wife?

This study examines the interaction effect of having children and a wife’s employment status on happiness using the Japanese panel data; it answers two research questions (RQs). RQ1: Who is happier, housewives or working wives? RQ2: What is the relative size of happiness of housewives without children, housewives with children, working wives without children, and working wives with children? Additionally, do these relationships change when considering the wife’s employment status (full-time, part-time, and self-employed) and having different work–life responsibilities? The study results have revealed three findings: (1) Housewives were happier than working wives, though unobserved fixed effects were considered; (2) housewives without children were the happiest, followed by working wives without children, housewives with children, and working wives with children, thereby suggesting that not all housewives are happier than working wives; and (3) full-time working wives without children were happier than housewives with children. These results revealed that children’s negative effects on wives’ happiness outweighed the impact of wives’ employment status. Moreover, these results are likely to be influenced by Japan’s current situation wherein the gender-based division of labor is robust, and the burden of housework and childcare relies on women alone.