abstract: 'A non-trivial number of mothers in Japan do not work despite being in

  poverty, a pattern of behavior that is inconsistent with both the

  predictions of conventional models of labor supply and the articulations

  of a ``gender revolution.{''''} This is particularly puzzling given that

  well-documented barriers to employment for low-income mothers in the

  United States and elsewhere appear to be of limited relevance in Japan.

  In this paper, we seek to better understand this pattern of behavior by

  describing the reasons that these mothers give for not working and by

  examining how the correlates of maternal employment differ for those

  whose husbands'' employment income is above and below half of the median

  household income. We show that a majority of these mothers report that

  their desire to focus on childrearing is a main reason for not working

  outside the home. Importantly, this prioritization of childrearing is

  unrelated to husband''s income level and the family''s economic need. We

  also show that the presence of an infant, attitudinal endorsement of the

  primacy of the mother role, and clear gender division of labor are

  particularly strong predictors of non-employment among all mothers,

  including those married to low-earning men. We discuss these findings in

  the context of theories of ``diverging destinies,{''''} focusing on their

  potential implications for children''s resources and the process of

  social and economic stratification within and across generations.'
affiliation: 'Zhou, YF (Corresponding Author), Japan Womens Univ, Fac Integrated Arts
  \& Social Sci, 2-8-1 Mejirodai,Bunkyo ku, Tokyo 1128681, Japan.

  Raymo, James M., Princeton Univ, Dept Sociol, Princeton, NJ USA.

  Raymo, James M., Princeton Univ, Off Populat Res, Princeton, NJ USA.

  Raymo, James M., Univ Tokyo, Tokyo Coll, Tokyo, Japan.

  Zhou, Yanfei, Japan Womens Univ, Fac Integrated Arts \& Social Sci, Tokyo, Japan.

  Zhou, Yanfei, Japan Womens Univ, Fac Integrated Arts \& Social Sci, 2-8-1 Mejirodai,Bunkyo
  ku, Tokyo 1128681, Japan.'
author: Raymo, James M. and Zhou, Yanfei
author-email: zhouy@fc.jwu.ac.jp
author_list:
- family: Raymo
  given: James M.
- family: Zhou
  given: Yanfei
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1111/gwao.12961
earlyaccessdate: JAN 2023
eissn: 1468-0432
files: []
issn: 0968-6673
journal: GENDER WORK AND ORGANIZATION
keywords: employment; gender; Japan; poverty
keywords-plus: 'LABOR-FORCE PARTICIPATION; GENDER REVOLUTION; WOMENS EMPLOYMENT;

  MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT; 2 DECADES; FAMILY; INEQUALITY; WORK;

  EGALITARIANISM; FERTILITY'
language: English
month: 2023 JAN 10
number-of-cited-references: '60'
orcid-numbers: 'ZHOU, YUN/0009-0003-5061-8730

  Raymo, James/0000-0001-6766-685X'
papis_id: 230c4dbbf6e5c638e9d40ae1b45cc1f8
ref: Raymo2023fulltimehomemakers
researcherid-numbers: 'li, xiao/GSN-6181-2022

  ZHOU, yf/IAO-5497-2023

  ZHOU, YUN/ISA-9160-2023

  '
times-cited: '0'
title: 'Full-time homemakers and economic disadvantage: The case of Japan'
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000909849300001
usage-count-last-180-days: '1'
usage-count-since-2013: '1'
web-of-science-categories: Management; Women's Studies
year: '2023'