Determinants of Japanese Couples' Coresidence with Their Older Mother
Jeudi 19 novembre 1998, de 14 à 15h (salle 111/121)
(*) National Insitute of Population and Social Security Research,
Japan.
Résumé :
This study aims to clarify the determinants of middle-aged couples'
coresidence with their older mother in Japan, applying the multinomiallogit model to the
1989 national household survey conducted by the Institute of Population Problems, Ministry
of Health and Welfare (currently, NIPSSR). The effects of demographic, economic, housing
and geographic determinants are analyzed. Particular emphasis is placed on the sibling
configuration of middle-aged couples which constrains the availability of children to live
with for an older mother.
The results show that the age and the eldest-status of middle-aged husbands have large
positive effects on coresidence with their mother while their wive's eldest daughter
status (being the oldest among daughters without brothers) has a negative effect. A higher
income (expenditure) level, non-owned housing and living in Tokyo Metropolitan Area, tends
to discourage coresidence with the husband's mother while a larger housing and living in
rural areas tend to encourage it. A larger housing and living in Kyushu Area tends to
encourage living with the wive's mother while a smaller housing and living in a small- or
medium-sized city tend to discourage it.
The effects of husband's eldest-son status and the wive's eldest-daughter status suggest
that the primogeniture custom, in exchange for care and support of older parents, still
remains in contemporary Japan. However, there are some indications of a new trend for
older parents to seek care and support from a daughter rather than a daughter-in-law as
reflected in the effects of other sibling configuration variables of each spouse. This may
be partly due to the significant change in the sibling configuration of the middle-aged
generation caused by the rapid fertility decline after the short postwar baby-boom.
The last result suggests that the intergenerationally extended households may not be
relied upon too much any more as a source of care and support for older persons due to the
changing demographic and other constraints. It also suggests that social policy measures,
aiming at intergenerational solidarity and gender equality, should be strengthened in
response to these changes.
La discussion sera introduite par Jean-Louis Rallu (INED)
Animateur de la séance : Nicolas Brouard
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