Motherhood and Work in Contemporary Japan

The proposed book explores the employment patterns of women born in the 1960s and the 1970s by presenting a comprehensive picture of the employment patterns of Japanese women who raised or are raising their children in the 1990s and the 2000s. Many women born in the 1960s and the 1970s raised their children after the 1990s when the Japanese economy experienced a serious economic downturn. On the other hand, gender equality policy and childcare leave systems were enhanced under pressure to cope with low fertility during this period. This book explores how these economic and policy circumstances, mediated by employment practices in Japanese firms and family systems, affect mothers’ employment in Japan.