| Abstract | |
| Survey Number | 0994 |
| Survey Title | Web-based Survey on Declining Number of Children, Couples' Employment Status and Living Condition, 2013 |
| Depositor | Economic and Social Research Institute, Cabinet Office, The Government of Japan |
| Restriction of Use |
For detailed information, please refer to 'For Data Users' on the SSJDA website.
- Apply to SSJDA. SSJDA's approval is required. |
| Educational Purpose | Available for both research and instructional purposes. |
| Period of Data Use Permission | One year |
| Access to Datasets | Download |
| SSJDA Data Analysis | Not available |
| Summary |
Based on previously published research on the background factors driving declining marriage rates and birthrates for married couples, we designed this survey to focus on declining birthrates inside marriages. The following themes were explored in our survey research. 1. When looking at married couples (including de facto marriages, here and elsewhere below), we want to explore the reason behind a lower desire to have children for women in fixed-term employment compared to regular employment. 2. Based on the possibility that regular employment enables continuous work and therefore may contribute to increased desire to give birth among women, we want to conduct analyses focused on desire to hold continuous employment after graduation and early career choices among women to explore factors that drive continuous employment. 3. As many people are unable to have as many kids as they would like because "parenting and education costs are much too high," we want to focus on and analyze women in each type of employment to determine whether the high educational standards couples have for children increase feelings of financial burden and therefore bring down the desire to have more children. 4. When taking a look at women that currently have only one child, we want to clarify how wives' feelings of burden towards parenting and their spouses' degree of involvement affect wives' desire to have a second child. |
| Data Type | quantitative research: micro data |
| Universe |
Married women (including de facto marriage) aged 25 and 39 (For women that have children, their children must be less than 6 years old.) |
| Unit of Observation | Individual |
| Sample Size | Target number of valid responses: 10,400 people or more |
| Date of Collection |
2013-11-06 ~ 2013-11-26 2013/11/6 – 11/26 |
| Time Period |
2013 ~ 2013 |
| Spatial Unit | Japan Japan |
| Sampling Procedure | Non-probability: Quota We crossed wives' employment types (regular, fixed-term, unemployed) with number of children (zero, one, two or more), constructed eight groups (eliminating unemployed wives with zero children), and secured 1,300 valid responses from members of each group. |
| Mode of Data Collection | Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI) Internet survey administered via Rakuten's Research Corporation's registered monitor program. |
| Investigator | Economic and Social Research Institute, Cabinet Office, The Government of Japan, survey carried out by Rakuten Research, Inc. |
| DOI | 10.34500/SSJDA.0994 |
| Sponsors (Funds) | |
| Related Publications (by the Investigator) | Please refer to the abstract in Japanese. |
| Related Publications (based on Secondary Analysis) | List of related publications (based on Secondary Analysis) |
| Documentation | [Questionnaire] |
| Major Survey Items |
1) Face items ・Gender, area of residence, marital status, respondent's/spouse's marriage history ・The year respondent got married to her current spouse, the year respondent got married to her first spouse, birth year/spouse's birth year ・Number of children, gender, age ・Employment status, size of employer, occupation type ・Number of children respondent gave birth to, whether currently pregnant ・Whether cohabiting with spouse, distance from the places of residence of relatives ・Respondent's/spouse's highest level of educational attainment ・Respondent's/spouse's mental health (2) Employment experience ・Employment status immediately after graduation/at marriage at the time of first marriage (for remarried individuals) ・Employment status at discovery of first pregnancy/one year after the birth of first child. ・Employment status at discovery of second pregnancy/one year after the birth of second child. ・Employment status at discovery of most recent pregnancy/one year after the birth of youngest child. ・(For unemployed individuals only) year in which you stopped working ・Experiences early on (first five years of employment) in the workplace (feeling of being relied upon at work, raises and promotions, etc.) ・Presence/absence of departure from, or changes in, work due to marriage ・Presence/absence of departure from, or changes in, work due to spouse work-related transfer ・Last year's annual income (3) Thoughts on their actual work ・Expectation of salary five years from now ・The life course respondent ideally wanted when graduating ・The life course husband had planned for wife at the time of marriage ・Whether or not respondent's mother works ・The reason for not working at the moment ・Intended employment/the reason, whether employed at various stages of respondent's youngest child's life (when they entered elementary/junior high school, etc.) ・Desired employment type/work hours/work days/commute time when re-entering the workforce ・Things respondent worries about when she re-enters the workforce ・Difficulty of work at last place of employment (4) Regarding current occupation ・Consecutive work years ・Time work starts and ends ・Days of work per week, hours of work per day, commute time ・Compatibility with parenting ・Intentions to increase/decrease work time ・Intention to continue employment at current place of work ・Reasons for intentions to change jobs/stop working ・Presence/absence of parenting support environment/system at current workplace/environment/systems which respondent feels necessary (5) Regarding spouse ・Family situation regarding work and child-rearing ・Necessary family situation to work while parenting ・Job and scale of employer at the time respondent graduated/at the time marriage was finalized/spouse's job and scale of employer ・Spouse's current type of employment /last year's salary/expected salary five years from now ・Spouse's number of work days per week/hours worked per day ・Times at which spouse leaves for and returns from work ・Whether spouse's workplace is compatible with child-rearing ・Spouse's thoughts on respondent's working (6) Regarding birth/parenting ・Ideal number of children to have, the number respondent actually plans on having/the reasons for both ・The education level respondent wishes child to have ・Thoughts on expenditures for children ・Feeling of burden regarding expected education/tuition fees for child ・Whether respondent finds parenting enjoyable ・Current management of housework and parenting in household/who manages them ・Possibility of using nursing services in area of residence (7) Satisfaction/Awareness ・Thoughts on relationship with spouse ・Level of satisfaction (married life, parenting, work, life overall) ・Thoughts on gender division of labor and the myth that women should exclusively parent until their child is above three years of age ・What respondent does when money is tight, specific preparations for those times ・Thoughts on level of educational attainment *For details on survey items, please refer to the questionnaire. |
| Date of Release | 2015/11/10 |
| Topics in CESSDA |
Click here for details Working conditions Family life and marriage |
| Topics in SSJDA | Society/Culture |
| Version | 1 ： 2015-11-10 |
| Notes for Users | Variable and value labels are written in Japanese. |