The Political Economy of Japan's Low Fertility

by Frances McCall Rosenbluth (Editor)

This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to one of Japan's thorniest public policy why are women increasingly forgoing motherhood? At the heart of the matter lies a although the overall trend among rich countries is for fertility to decrease as female labor participation increases, gender-friendly countries resist the trend. Conversely, gender-unfriendly countries have lower fertility rates than they would have if they changed their labor markets to encourage the hiring of women―and therein lies Japan's problem. The authors argue that the combination of an inhospitable labor market for women and insufficient support for childcare pushes women toward working harder to promote their careers, to the detriment of childbearing. Controversial and enlightening, this book provides policy recommendations for solving not just Japan's fertility issue but those of other modern democracies facing a similar crisis.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published December 8, 2006

Reviews

[Heliotropic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though an extremely dense book and very heavily academic text, this book is extremely meticulous in its coverage of the issues leading to the decline of fertility in Japan. It covers not only company culture and feminine identity in Japan, but discusses and dissects how fertility reflects itself in cultures throughout the world (though that is only one chapter). It discusses policy, the nature of childcare, and the interplay of all these factors and their possible effects on Japanese fertility. It is thought-provoking and offers, at times, sorrowful insight into the realities of being a woman in a modern society still fettered to tradition. It delves very deeply into policy, government, well—"The Political Economy" so I wouldn't personally consider this book for the faint of heart.

Because my statistics knowledge is limited, I had difficulty keeping up with the graphs and data featured in the book (many of which are not easy to figure out without prior knowledge of statistics)—though this is not why I gave this book four stars; though, if it were possible, I'd give it 4.5. I feel that its formatting (long paragraphs which are not spaced out) make it somewhat tricky to navigate the text when flitting between the graphs/data and the actual text.

No, I am not a female living in Japan, but this text is applicable to women's issues all around the world, and therefore should be read by all those concerned by the evolving family structure in this modernizing world that is still marked by the vestiges of the past and modern human fault.