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Divorce in Japan: Why It Happens, Why It Doesn’t

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In this paper I address two critical questions about divorce in postwar Japan: Why is the divorce rate so low compared to other industrialized economies? And, Why is it rising? I examine divorce in the context of institutional change, and discuss how the rising divorce rate in Japan is an outcome of the dynamic interactions between economic development and demographic change at the macro-level, and changes in social norms and attitudes that govern the behavior of individuals at the micro-level. The divorce rate in Japan is rising because there is a tradeoff between marital stability and gender equality. The drive towards equal status between the sexes narrows the dependency between the spouses, and offsets the costs and benefits of marriage. Lower dependency allows greater voice, and lowers the cost of exiting a marriage. The diversity of family forms such as civil unions and cohabitation allows couples to choose alternatives to marriage, which in turn weakens the institution of marriage. Alternatively, the divorce rate in Japan is low compared to the U.S. and Europe because dependency between the spouses is greater, alternatives to marriage are fewer, and the legacy of the traditional gender division of labor continues to influence the actions and attitudes of men and women.

Suggested Citation

  • Ono, Hiroshi, 2004. "Divorce in Japan: Why It Happens, Why It Doesn’t," EIJS Working Paper Series 201, Stockholm School of Economics, The European Institute of Japanese Studies, revised 26 Jan 2006.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:eijswp:0201
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    1. Blomstrom, Magnus & Gangnes, Byron & La Croix, Sumner (ed.), 2001. "Japan's New Economy: Continuity and Change in the Twenty-First Century," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199241736.
    2. Kato, Takao, 2001. "The End of Lifetime Employment in Japan?: Evidence from National Surveys and Field Research," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 489-514, December.
    3. Rebick, M., 2000. "Japanese Labour Markets: Can we Expect Significant Change?," Economics Series Working Papers 9921, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    4. Robert D. Retherford & Naohiro Ogawa & Rikiya Matsukura, 2001. "Late Marriage and Less Marriage in Japan," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 27(1), pages 65-102, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yip, Paul S.F. & Chen, Ying-Yeh & Yousuf, Saman & Lee, Carmen K.M. & Kawano, Kenji & Routley, Virginia & Ben Park, B.C. & Yamauchi, Takashi & Tachimori, Hisateru & Clapperton, Angela & Wu, Kevin Chien, 2012. "Towards a reassessment of the role of divorce in suicide outcomes: Evidence from five pacific rim populations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 358-366.
    2. Schaede Ulrike, 2013. "Sunshine and Suicides in Japan: revisiting the relevance of economic determinants of suicide," Contemporary Japan, De Gruyter, vol. 25(2), pages 105-126, August.
    3. Andrés, Antonio R. & Halicioglu, Ferda & Yamamura, Eiji, 2011. "Socio-economic determinants of suicide in Japan," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 723-731.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Japan; institutional change; divorce; gender; norms; dependency; cohabitation; marriage; children.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • K00 - Law and Economics - - General - - - General (including Data Sources and Description)

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