Changes in Family Forms in Japan: Analyses of Subjective Definitions

In order to understand the changes in family pattern, it is crucial to look at how individuals understand and define the family subjectively. In this paper, I will examine the changes in the subjective boundary of the family among Japanese, namely, who among kin are normatively considered as members of the “family”.

The preliminary analyses of the 1st (1993) to the 4th (2008) National Family Survey of Japan conducted among married women by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research show that there is an expanding trend of the normative boundaries. In other words, more and more types of kin are considered to be one’s “family member”. For example, the proportion responding that a “married daughter” is generally considered as one’s family member regardless of whether or not they live together increased from 35% in 1993 to 66.2% in 2008. The analyses also show that the defined boundaries vary by age, education, employment status, household size and its composition, and geographic region.

In the paper, I will further examine how the subjective family boundaries relate to their attitudes toward various family forms and ways of living, such as attitudes toward taking care of aged parents, aged couples living with their children, married couples’ not having children, and mothers of young children who stay home. Finally, I will compare these results based on individual level data with the macro-level data on family structure to explore possible mutual relationships behind the changes in family pattern.