1 / 15

JAPANESE FATHERS ’ INVOLVEMENT IN CHILDCARE

JAPANESE FATHERS ’ INVOLVEMENT IN CHILDCARE. Masako Ishii-Kuntz, Ph.D. Department of Sociology University of California, Riverside. 1. OVERVIEW Traditional views on Japanese Fathers and Extent of Father ’ s Childcare Involvement Decline in Birth Rates Childcare Leave Policy

prentice
Download Presentation

JAPANESE FATHERS ’ INVOLVEMENT IN CHILDCARE

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. JAPANESE FATHERS’ INVOLVEMENT IN CHILDCARE Masako Ishii-Kuntz, Ph.D. Department of Sociology University of California, Riverside

  2. 1. OVERVIEW • Traditional views on Japanese Fathers and Extent of Father’s Childcare Involvement • Decline in Birth Rates • Childcare Leave Policy • Significance of Research on Paternal Involvement 2. RESEARCH Women and Men for Childcare Network 3. POLICY IMPLICATIONS

  3. Traditional Views of Japanese Fathers • “Earthquake, Thunderous, and Fiery” Fathers • Fatherless Families  Arm’s Distance from Their Children • Economic provider

  4. Extent of Father’s Childcare Involvement • Time spent with children (per day) FatherMother Japan 3.32 hours 7.44 Korea 3.64 8.40 U.S.A. 4.88 7.57 • Childcare time Japanese mothers  2.39 hours/day Japanese fathers  17 minutes/day (10 min./weekday, 29 min./Saturday, 38 min./Sunday) (Source: Japan Women’s Education Association, 1995)

  5. Decline in Birth Rate • Steady decline in Japanese birth rates since mid-1970s 1970 2.2 babies on average per woman 1980 1.8 1995 1.5 2000 1.34 2002 1.32

  6. Reasons for Decline in Birth Rate • Women’s higher educational achievement and participation in labor force • Delay in marriage • Increase in ever-singles • Housing problems • Lack of husband’s involvement in child care

  7. Ministry of Health and Welfare’s1999 Campaign • Appeal for greater paternal involvement • TV commercials and posters • “A man who doesn’t raise his children can’t be called a father.”

  8. Child Care Leave Policy • Japan (Revision of 1992)  Maximum of 1 year  25% of salary is paid by the Employment Insurance  0.2% of fathers; 44.5% of mothers  Of those who take childcare leave, 99.2% are mothers • U.S.  Family care leave (12 weeks a year), Not compensated.

  9. Significance of Research in Paternal Involvement • Higher birth rates • Effects on children • Effects on mothers and their marriage • Effects on fathers, themselves

  10. My Research • Why (and How) DO some men actively participate in child care? • Rather than, why DON’T they participate in child care?

  11. Father’s Involvement in Childcare • Research Setting:  In-depth interviews to members of WOMEN AND MEN FOR CHILDCARE NETWORK in Japan  Corporate fathers between 29 and 45  Childcare Leave, Childcare Hours

  12. WOMEN AND MEN FOR CHILDCARE NETWORK • Tokyo-based association (Ikujiren) • Aims to increase paternal involvement in childcare as well as to reduce parents’ work hours • Monthly meetings, Bi-monthly newsletters (circulation of 500), Internet discussion list, Homepage (http://www.eqg.org/), Symposiums, Lectures

  13. WOMEN AND MEN FOR CHILDCARE NETWORK: Notable Activities • Response to 1999 campaign  “A man who doesn’t raise his children can’t be called a father. Then let us care for our children without any hesitation.” • A letter to British Prime Minister, Tony Blair (2000) • Opinion polls on childcare issues among political candidates for Japanese parliamentary election

  14. Major Findings • Father-friendly workplace (Childcare Leave, Childcare Hours, Flextime) • Time availability • Childcare demand at home • Relative resources

  15. Policy Implications • Structural Changes • Increase in Compensation for Childcare • Provision of Father-friendly Workplace • Decrease in Work Hours • Attitudinal Changes • Family Life Education (NCFR) • Prenatal Fathering Education

More Related