Wandering Career Paths Among Japanese Youths: An Analysis of Jgss Life Course Study

In Japan, there had been a standard life model that many youths follow.  Once students entered the labor force, their full-time employment was virtually guaranteed until retirement.  Since the mid-1990s, however, many young Japanese did not (or were unable to) follow this standard life model.  Increasingly, Japanese youths have started their careers as contingent employees.  For many younger adults with unstable careers, incomes did not grow, and thus the gap between regular employees and contingent employees expanded.  In addition, for many Japanese, marriage and childbirth became no longer an ordinary path of life.

The goal of this study is to illustrate diversified career paths of Japanese youths and investigate the causes and effects of the career paths.  JGSS Life Course Study contains detailed life history, including educational background, work experience, marital record, with a national sample of men and women aged 28 to 42.  Mixture modeling with longitudinal data was employed to classify Japanese career paths.  In this model, retrospective data were treated as if we collected types of respondents’ employment each year.

The results show that there are clear gender differences in the career paths among Japanese youths. Younger men’s career is more likely to be unstable, whereas younger women’s career is more likely to be stable.  Educational attainment does not predict career paths among men, whereas highly educated women’s career is more likely to be stable.  Men whose career path was unstable are less likely to make money and get married, and more likely to be unhealthy and unhappy.  Women whose career path was stable are more likely to make money but be unhealthy, and less likely to get married.  Recent economic recession and the popularity of higher education are presumed causes of diversified career paths among Japanese youths.