Re-Entering the Labor Market after Childbirth Among Japanese Women

This study explores the women’s working career after childbirth in Japan. Many Japanese women quit working around the time of their first childbirth, and re-enter the labor market when their children get somewhat older. This study focuses on the process of re-entering the labor market. Some previous research already investigated on the issue. However, most of them only focus on the getting a job for the first time after childbirth. This study further explores what happens in women’s career after they get job for the first time after childbirth, because it seems that many women experience the changes of their employment status even after re-entering the labor market. Data used in this study is Japanese Panel Survey of Consumers (JPSC). This study uses data collected from 1993 to 2008. Those women who had their first childbirth during above observation period, and did not working in the year of their first childbirth are selected to describe the working career after childbirth and analyze the determinants of it. Results of Kaplan-Meier Method show that the probability that a woman is working when their first child is ten years old is 65%. Results of Cox regression model show that university graduates are less likely to get a job compared to those who completed high school, however, it seems that husband’s income is more influential than education on whether a woman get a job or stay out of labor force. Then, focusing on those who started their first job after childbirth as non-standard employees, their working career afterward is analyzed. The results imply that those who graduated from university are more likely to change their employment status compared to those who have high school diploma. Based on these results, Japanese labor market structure and the difficulties of women’s career development there will be discussed.