Fertility decline in South Korea

노트 : Paper presented for presentation at the XXV IUSSP International Population Conference, 18-23 July 2005, Tours, Franc

Nontraditional Family-Related Attitudes in Japan: Macro and Micro Determinants

Attitudinal data are commonly used to measure values, which in turn represent moral doctrines that are resistant to change and are the foundation for societal norms. This article examines changes in the attitudinal climate in Japan. Three national surveys (1994, 2000, and 2009) are used to examine a range of attitudes that measure a) the centrality of marriage and childbearing, b) nontraditional family behaviors, and c) gender roles in the work and family spheres. There is strong evidence of movement toward less-traditional attitudes during 1994–2000, followed by limited change in the 2000s. Period factors were paramount in the 1990s. Across the board, women hold less-traditional attitudes than men, and this difference has increased over time. Both engaging in nontraditional family behaviors (being married but remaining childless) and knowing someone who has engaged in nontraditional family behaviors (cohabitation) causally lead to holding nontraditional attitudes, suggesting mechanisms whereby changes in individual behavior can lead to changes in societal values

Employment and household tasks of Japanese couples, 1994-2009

The paper examines changes in the relationship between employment and household tasks of Japanese couples, using data drawn from national cross-sectional surveys in 1994, 2000 and 2009 of persons aged 20–49 and from the 2009 follow-up of the 2000 survey. Wives’ employment is structured by their husbands’ employment time and earning power, as well as by their family situations including the presence and age of children and coresidence with parents. Housework hours of husbands, though very low, increased over time, while wives’ hours decreased. Wives housework time decreases as their employment time increases. Marriage dramatically increases women’s housework time but produces little change in men’s time. Husbands’ housework hours are positively correlated with reported marital satisfaction of both spouses

Order amidst change: Work and family trajectories in Japan

Substantial family and work macro-level change has been occurring in Japan. Examples include a decline in the availability of jobs that afford lifetime protection against unemployment, an increase in jobs that do not carry benefits such as a pension, an increase in age at marriage and at first birth, and an increase in marital dissolution. Using life history data from the 2000 National Survey on Family and Economic Conditions, young Japanese appear to have responded to these macro-level changes in a fairly orderly manner. Marriage and childbearing have been postponed, but marriage still precedes childbearing. Education is completed prior to starting work. For men, once work commences they continue working. For women, the classic conflict between work and family roles is evident. For men and women in both the family and work spheres Japanese young adults have more orderly life course trajectories than American young adults

Does "being connected" reduce the risk of teenage drinking, smoking and drug use? : survey results from Southeast Asia

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/In many Asian societies, the shift from traditional agriculture toward an industrial, export-based economy has brought about dramatic changes in the lives of young people. Prolonged schooling, employment opportunities outside the home, and delayed marriage have created a population of "young singles" unheard-of a few decades ago. Increasingly urban, educated, affluent, and exposed to mass media, will young people in Southeast Asia experience similar health and behavioral problems as their counterparts in the West? The question is particularly important today because the recent shift from high to low fertility has produced a temporary, but significant "youth bulge" in the region. Between 1970 and 1990, the population age 15-24 in Southeast Asia rose from 43 to 72 million. This age group is projected to increase to 92 million by 2025. This issue of Asia-Pacific population & policy discusses factors that may influence teenage drinking, smoking, and drug use, based on youth surveys in Thailand and the Philippines

Identifying children with high mortality risk

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/NFHS data on infant and child mortality indicate that seven groups of children in India are particularly vulnerable to mortality risks. These are: children born less than 24 months after a previous birth, children in families where an older sibling has died, children born to mothers less than 20 years old, children of illiterate mothers, children in very poor households, children in households whose head belongs to a scheduled caste or tribe, and children in households without access to a flush or pit toilet. Intervention programs to improve child survival should focus on these high-risk groups. The NFHS Bulletin is a series of four-page policy briefs summarizing secondary analysis of data from the 1992-93 National Family Health Survey (NFHS) in India. The NFHS collected information from nearly 90,000 Indian women on a range of demographic and health topics. Conducted under the auspices of the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the survey provides national and state-level estimates of fertility, infant and child mortality, family planning practice, maternal and child health, and the utilization of services available to mothers and children. IIPS conducted the survey in cooperation with consulting organizations and 18 population research centers throughout India. The East-West Center and a U.S.-based consulting firm, Macro International, provided technical assistance, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided financial support

The Youth tobacco epidemic in Asia

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/</a