Graduate Student Forum

Gender Inequality among Japan’s Elderly as Seen through Household Labor Division in Elderly Married Households

Date
Thursday, 6 May 2021 | 12:15 - 13:00 (JST)
Venue
Zoom Meeting
Language
English
Speakers
  • Taeeun Kim Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo
Moderator
  • Kenneth McElwain Professor, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo
Event Description

As women’s participation in economic activities increased, discussions on the share of housework were actively carried out, but many previous studies showed that men’s share of household chores is still much lower than that of women’s participation in economic activities, and that women are placed under the double burden of work and housework (Hochshild and Machung, 2012). However, most of the previous studies on the distribution of housework have focused on the distribution of housework in the active generation. Housework for the elderly has not received much attention than the current generation, but it can be seen as a very important topic from the perspective of the recent progression of aging and inequality. The purpose of this study is to confirm the wife’s share of housework in the household share of elderly couples, and to examine what factors affect the wife’s share of housework from the perspective of a relative resource.