Why a re coha bitation a nd extra-marital birt hs so few in J apa n? Mak oto ATOH Na tional Inst itut e of Population an d Social Secur ity Resear ch Hibiya Kokusai Building 6th Floor 2-2-3 Uchisaiwai-cho, Chiyodaku Tokyo 100-0011 Japan a toh@ ipss .go.jpPaper presented at th e EURESCO conference “ The seco nd Dem ogra phic Tran sition in Eu rope,” Bad Herrenalb, German y, 23-28 June 2001
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8/3/2019 Why Are Cohabitatio and Extra Marital Births So Few in Japan 010623 Paper18 (1)
am ong th e total a nn ua l num ber of live birth s ha s been only one per cent-level, though it
has been very moderat ely increasing (S ID-MHW, 2000a). In contr ast with J apa n, the
proport ion of extra-ma rita l birt hs ha s been rising tremen dously among all th e Westernsoc ie t ies in th ese th i r t y year s , though th ere i s cu r ren t ly a l a r ge d ifference in th i s
proport ion a mong them: between about 39 to 62 percent for t he N ordic coun tr ies an d
about 4 t o 15 percent for t he South ern Eu ropean coun tr ies in 1999 (Coun cil of Eur ope,
2000). I t i s clear th at behind such rema rka ble increase in the extr a-mari tal bir ths
th ere h as been a corr esponding incr ea se in coha biting couples (Un ited Na tions, 1991;
UNE CE, 1997 2001).
Then, the quest ion is why cohabi ta t ion a nd extra -ma ri ta l b ir t hs a re so few in
J apan which h as h ad s imilar t rends with the Western societ ies with respect t o other
demogra phic chara cteristics. This question deserves purs uing for th e sake of shedding
light on root-cau ses of very low ferti l i ty in J apa n, because t her e is curr ent ly a st rong
positive cross-national corr elation between th e pr oport ion of extra -marita l births and
the total fertility ra te (Figure 2).
2. Why have cohabitat ion an d extr a-mar ital births increased so much in the Western
societies?
Up t o the middle of the 1960s, coha bitation an d ha ving extra -marita l birt hs ha ve
not been popular even in the Wester n societies. But t hey ha ve continued to increase
since th en. Then, why have coha bitat ion a nd extr a-mar ital births increased so much
in the Wester n societies since th en? Ther e are at lea st th ere possible explan at ions for
this question.
The first one is a technological explan at ion (Van de Kaa , 1989; Prest on, 1987).
The oral contr aceptive pill was developed an d came t o be prevalent in th e middle of the
1960s in t he Wester n societies. The pill is different from other contr aceptive meth ods
which ha d been popular in th e Western societies before t he int roduction of th e pill, such
as withdr awa l (coitus int eru ptu s), douche, or female clinical met hods like diaph ra gm,
foam or ta blet, in the point t ha t it was a female-domina nt , coitus-free, easy-to-use and
very effective meth od. With th is meth od more Wester n women cam e to cont rol their
p regnancies a n d bir ths as th ey wish with ou t depend ing upon th e i r par t ner . The
availability of the pill is th ough t to ha ve promoted “sex revolut ion”, th at is, the rising of
sex experiences among unmarried youth and cohabitation, because it led to the
reduction of th e fear of unwa nt ed pregnan cies am ong un ma rr ied women . The increase
of extra-marital births seems to have occurred after the sufficient increase of
coha bitation, or in other words, after coha bitat ion wa s a ccepted in a society as a wa y of
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Th e second one is an explana t ion by women’s emancipat ion. More a nd more
women have achieved longer and higher education, been engaged in gainfulemployment a nd con t inu ed to keep the i r job a f te r m ar r iage or ch i ldbear ing in the
Western societies since th e 1960s. Wage differen tia ls by gender ha ve shr un k, so th at
women ha ve come to be economically more indepen dent . As women becam e socially
an d economically more equa l to men, they desired to form an equal par tn ersh ip with
men . Since th e t r adi t iona l ma rr iage form was, more or less , char acter ized by th e
brea dwinn er-homema ker syst em (Davis, 1990), more eman cipat ed women chose to form
coha biting couples, expecting a m ore equal par tn ersh ip in it.
The th ird one is an explana tion by value chan ge (Van de Kaa , 1989 and 1999;
Lesth aegh e et al, 1988). Among youn ger people conform ism with r eligious t eachings
has been weakened, confidence in the existing religious organizations has been reduced
an d toleran ce toward a nti-social beha vior h as increa sed. As youn ger people were more
secularized, th ey cam e to cherish individu al freed om of choice as opposed t o existin g
inst itu t ional regulat ions . They cam e to place the high est valu e on th e desire for
self-actua lizat ion. Fr eed from the existin g religion an d morality, th ey bega n to
determ ine th eir repr oductive behavior as their individual rights for self-actu alizat ion.
As a result, such reproductive behavior as extra-ma rital sex, coha bita tion, extra -marital
b ir ths , d ivorce a n d abort ion which ha d been social ly repr oached before in creased .
While the a ge of the first demograp hic tra nsit ion wa s th at of “king-child”, the a ge of the
second dem ogra phic tra nsit ion becam e th at of “kin g-pair”.
3. Why ha ve coha bitation an d extra -mar ital births not increased in J apa n?
Now, let us tu r n t o th e ques t ion of t h e low prevalence of cohabi ta t ion and
extra -marital births in Japa n.
First , Ja panese fertility tr an sition in th e 1950s was mainly brought a bout by the
use of indu ced a bort ion wh ich h ad been legalized by the E ugenics Pr otection Law in
1948 (: This law was r enam ed and r evised as t he Mother ’s Body Pr otection Law in 1999).
Contraceptive behavior started to prevail among married couples in the 1950s,
gra dua lly repla cing abortion as a chief met hod for fert ility contr ol in th e 1950s an d 60s,
bu t th e con t r acept ive p reva lence ra te a mong marr ied women reached a p la teau of
relat ively low levels (ar ound 60 percent) in 1970s and rem ained t her e up to now (Figur e
3). Among contr aceptive met hods th e condom and th e rhythm method ha d been the
two most popular m eth ods for a long time, followed by with dra wal, but with th e gradu al
decline in the u se of the rh yth m meth od th e condom became th e single most import an t
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met hod for th e cont empora ry J apa nese mar ried couples (Table 1). The use of
female-domina nt an d effective meth ods, such a s th e pill, IUD a nd female sterilization,
ha ve been limited t o the min orit y par tly becau se of th eir legal ban or legal limitat ion forcont ra ceptive use. Gener ally speak ing, J apa nese mar ried couples have been able to
achieve th eir family size goal, about just m ore t ha n t wo children on a verage, by th e use
of male-domina nt cont ra captive meth ods, complemen ted by th e relying on legal induced
abort ion in case of cont ra ceptive failur es (Atoh, 1982).
The ora l high-dose pill was au th orized in t he 1960s for clinical purpose, but t he
ora l low-dose cont ra ceptive pill had long been ba nn ed a nd only in 1999 was a ut horized.
Only a few percent of ma rr ied couples had u sed th e ora l high-dose pill for cont ra ceptive
pur pose before t he legalizat ion of th e low-dose pill. Even afte r t he legaliza tion of th e
low-dose pill, the u se of th e pill did not increa se a mong ma rr ied couples (PP RC, 2000)
(Table 1). It is difficult t o guess r eal r eas ons why th e low-dose cont ra ceptive pill has
not been legally au th orized for a long time in J apa n. But t he fact itself seems t o ha ve
reflected, first, conser vat ive att itud e am ong medical people, who ha d th e decisive power
to aut horize the pi l l in th e adm inis t r izat ion of the Minis t ry of Heal t h a nd Welfar e,
toward repr oductive freedom for women, especially un ma rr ied women. Second,
feminism m ovement h as been wea k in th is field, too, in J apa n, compar ed with other
developed coun tr ies. This ma y be relat ed to the fact t ha t even highly educat ed women
did not wan t to use a vai lable fema le-dominant cont ra cept ive meth ods ma ybe due to
their own conservat ism or h esitancy to ta ke an initiative in sex-related ma tters.
Even wit hout t he h igh availability of th e pill, “sex revolut ion” occur red in J apa n,
too. Accordin g to time-series su rveys on sexua l beha vior a mong student s at various
levels, the pr oport ion of th ose who had sexua l int ercour se ha s increas ed at ea ch level of
schools in the 1980s and 90s (F igur e 4 ). Among th e unm ar r ied peop le the ma in
contr aceptive methods ar e a lso over wh elm in gly m ale-domina nt ones su ch as the
condom an d withdr awa l which h ave been popular a mong mar ried couples (JASE, 2000;
PP RC, 2000). Pa rt ly because of th is, the level of sexua l activities am ong th e single
you t h in J apa n lagged fa r beh ind th an in th e Wes tern socie t ies : th e p ropor t ion of
women a ged 20 ha ving ha d sexual inter cour se is at most 50 percent in J apa n, while 80
to 100 percent in ma ny Norther n a nd Western Eur opean count ries (J ASE, 2000; PP RC,
2000; NIPSSR, 1999; Unit ed Na tions, 1991 and 2000). In a ccorda nce with t he increase
in sexual a ctivities am ong the single, th e num ber of pregna ncies among single women
aged high teen s seems t o have increa sed, judging from th e fact of th e increase in t he
ra te of registered n um ber of induced abortions for t hem from 3.1 to 9.1 per t h ousan d
population between 1975 a nd 1998 (SID-MHW, 2000b). Also, th e proport ion of
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“shotgun marr iage”, th a t is , m ar ria ge with a pr e-mari tal pregnancy, has increased
probably in order to evade illegitim at e birth s (Ota ni, 1993).
Und er t he situ at ion in which the prevalence of female-dominant, effective andeasy-to-use contra ceptive m ethods, su ch as t h e pill , is low, pr e-marital sexes a n d
coha bitat ion would have a h igh risk of un wan ted pr egnan cies and birt hs, which would
be accompa nied, in tu rn , by th e inter ru ption of educational an d/or occupa tional car eer
for women un willingly. Ther efore, th ere is a possibility tha t a low prevalence of th e
low-dose pill affected by its long-ter m legal ba n h as been condu cive to a low preva lence
of coha bitat ion an d extr a-mar ital births in J apa n.
Secondly, it is tr ue t ha t J apa nese women ha ve been socially an d economically
emancipated. More women ha ve come to achieve higher educat ion an d th e gender gap
of ed u ca t i on a l a t t a i n m en t h a v e sh ru n k i n p os t war y ea r s i n J ap an . M ore t h a n 9 0
percent of female gra dua tes of compulsory schools a re enr olled in h igh schools since
ar oun d th e middle of th e 1970s, and a bout 50 percent of th ose gradu at es advan ce to at
leas t t wo-year col leges a nd jus t more t ha n 25 percent of them adva nce to four-year
un iversities (Figure 5). Ther e ha s been an increasin g ten dency for female stu dents to
choose depar tm ent s of un ivers i t ies tha t a re useful for occupat iona l car eer an d ar e
compet itive with ma le stu dent s, such as laws, economics, engineering, medicine an d
pharmacy rather than literature, arts and home economics (DSSP-MOE, 2000).
Women’s labor force par ticipat ion r at es ha ve increa sed since th e middle of th e 1970s at
lea st u p t o t h e en d o f t h e b u b b l e econ o m y i n t h e ea r l y 19 9 0 s (F i g u r e 6 ). W ag e
differentials by gender have shrunk dramatically up to now (MOL, 2000).
Also, value system s on gender roles and fam ilies ha ve cha nged gradu ally in t his
quar ter of a centu ry. Sur vey dat a collected before t he m iddle of the 1970s showed tha t
almost 80 percent of respondents, ma le or fema le an d old or young, agreed with such
views as “Women would better ma rr y”, “Men work out side, women k eep home” an d “It is
not allowable to get divorced, even if you are not satisfied with your spouse”.
Accordin g th e su bsequent sur veys, th ose proport ions cont inued t o decline and rea ched
40 to 60 percent-levels in t he 1990s (Atoh, 1997) (Table 2). Also in t he sa me per iod, the
proportion of th ose who supports t he view tha t women sh ould continu e th eir job even
after t heir childbearing ha ve increased from only about 10 p ercent-level to about 30
percent-level (Table 3).
Thus, J apa nese women h ave cha nged their at t i tu de as well as their behavior
regar ding their social and familial roles, though th ese cha nges have been gradu al. But
even h ighly-educated and/or profess iona l un ma rr ied women aged 20s a nd 30s ha ve
har dly dared to coha bit with th eir partn er. This may be partly due to their hesitan cy
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happiness with t he s tatus of ent i re J apan showed that in 40 years between 1953 and
1993 th ose who replied “It is only when J ap an is improved tha t individuals become
happy” decreased a l i t t le an d th ose who repl ied “J apa n becomes bet t er only whenindividua ls are ha ppy” did not show any notable chan ge (IMS, 1994). Anoth er su rvey
dat a for t he you t h showed tha t th e ra t es of rep l ies to th e ques t ion on a l te rn a t ive
at titu des between “The most im porta nt th ing is to sat isfy my own life” an d “Satisfying
my own life is not su fficient , an d I would like t o do th ings u seful to society ” rem ain ed
alm ost un chan ged for 15 years between 1977 an d 1992 (YS-PMO, 1994).
Individuat ion seem s to ha ve not so mu ch evolved as to break down tr aditional
fam ilism in J apa n in which lineal paren t-children relationsh ips are r egarded as m ore
importa nt th an hu sban d-wife (or m an-woma n) relationships probably, ha ving its roots
in the s tem fam ily syst em in t he pr e-modern Ja pan (Morioka, 1993). Tra di t iona l
familism seems to bind even the mind and behavior of young people in the
contemporary Japan.
Firs t, a ser ies of surveys on r eproductive behavior u nder ta ken in 1980s an d 90s
revealed tha t a lmost 40 percent of un ma rr ied women a ged 20s and 30s ha d had n o boy
friends an d almost 50 percent of unm ar ried men aged 20s and 30s had h ad n o gir l
friends (NIPSS R, 1999). Accordin g to anoth er sur vey, about 70 percent of un ma rr ied
women h aving no boy friends sa id tha t t hey were not da ring to look for t heir pa rt ner s by
an y mean s (Atoh, 1998).
Secondly, about 80 t o 85 percent of unmar ried working women a ged 20 to 34 sta y
at t heir par ent’s home (Atoh, 1998). Among th em about 60 percent sa id tha t th ey
sta yed ther e becau se it is economically difficult t o live indepen dent ly (Table 5). But
judging from t he fact t ha t a bout 40 percent of t hose aged 30s who could live th eir own
life indepen dent ly if th ey desired s o point ed t o such economic rea son, it is difficult t o
regard t hem a s a r eserve group for becoming independent from t heir par ents. Among
those who live away from t heir pa rent s, only about the ha lf said th at th ey lived alone
becau se they wan ted to become economically an d/or m ent ally self-relia nt . All th ese
data suggest that the orientation of self-reliance or independence from parents’
influence is very wea k am ong young women .
If most of th e youn g working women in th e contemporary J apa n is st ill boun d by
tr adi t ional fam il ism, then i t i s very na tu ra l tha t th ey do not dar e to l ive alone an d
eventu ally cohabit th eir partn ers.
4. Concluding Rema rk s
We have discussed why cohabitation and extra-marital births had hardly
8/3/2019 Why Are Cohabitatio and Extra Marital Births So Few in Japan 010623 Paper18 (1)
increased in J apan in the las t qua rter of the twent ieth centu ry , notwithstan ding she
had had su ch demogra ph ic chan ges s imi la r to the Wes tern coun t r ies as th e r i s ing
proportion of the single people, the continuous postponement of marriage andchildbear ing, the increa sing divorce ra te a nd fert i l ity decline far below repla cemen t
level.
First, the low availability of female-dominant, effective and easy-to-use
cont ra ceptive meth ods, such a s th e oral pill, due t o their legal limitat ion seem s to ha ve
been part ly responsible for th is phenomenon in th e sense that u nma rr ied J apa nese
women would face the h igher risk of unwa nt ed pregnan cies tha n t hose in t he West if
th ey coha bit. But behind their legal limitat ion was there conser vative at titude
connected with t r adi t ional famil ism a mong medical people as wel l as a mong man y
women.
Second, J apa nese women h ave been ema ncipat ed socially and economically
an d the i r a t t i tude toward gender r oles in a fam i ly and in a socie ty have cha nged
gra dua lly. But t hese chan ges ha ve not led to th e increa se of coha biting couples. This
ma y be part ly due to their conservative att itude toward sex and cont ra ception but a lso
par tly due to th eir expecta tion of tra ditiona l gender r ole division even in coha biting
couples which is relat ed to such r eality as t he very limited sha ring of household chores
and childcar e by husban ds in m ar ried couples.
Third , secularism and individual ism ha ve progressed very gradu al ly in t he
postwa r J apa n, but individuat ion seems t o ha ve not so much evolved as t o break down
tr aditional fam ilism in which lineal relationsh ips are regar ded as more importa nt t ha n
husband-wife relationships, having its roots in the stem family system in the
pre-modern J apa n. The fact tha t more tha n 80 percent of unm ar ried working women
aged even ea r ly 30s coha b i t wi th t he i r pa ren t s seems to show tha t t hey fee l more
comfatable at th eir paren ts’home an d th ey have very weak motivation t o leave it an d
form a coha biting couple.
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Q. Whi ch of t he f ol l owi ng opi ni on do you agree wi t h? Sel ect one.
1. Women woul d rat her not have an occupat i on.2. Women woul d rat er have an occupat i on onl y unt i l t hei r marri age.3. Women woul d rat er have an occupat i on onl y unt i l t hey have a baby.
4. Women woul d rat her st op t hei r occupat i onal work at t he t i me of t hei r weddi ng ort hei r havi ng a baby and resume i t agai n af t er t hei r chi l dren grew up.
5. Women woul d rat her cont i nue t hei r occupat i onal work even i f t hey had chi l dren.6. Ot hers.7. D. K.
Source: Publ i c Relat i ons Sect i on, Pri me Mi ni st er' s Of f i ce, Opi ni onSurveys on Women i n 1972, 1979, 1987, 1992, and 1995.
8/3/2019 Why Are Cohabitatio and Extra Marital Births So Few in Japan 010623 Paper18 (1)
Tabl e4. Aver age Ti me Spent f or Economi c and Househol d Work by Weekday or Sunday f or Mal e Marri ed Workers, Femal e Marri ed Workers,and Femal e Marri ed Non- Workers
(Uni t : hours. mi nut es) Year
Type of Work Mal e Female Femal e Mal e Femal e Femal eWorkers Workers Non- workers Workers Workers Non- workers
Not e: In t he Basi c Survey on Soci al Li f e, dai l y l i f e acti vi t i es are di vi dei nt o t hree act i vi t i es: (1) t he pri mary ones necessary f or everyone,i ncl udi ng sl eepi ng & di ni ng, 2 t he secondary ones, i ncl udi ng economi cwork and commut i ng, household chores, and chi l dcare, and (3) t he tert i ary ones, i ncl udi ng l ei sure. In t hi s tabl e, t he second act i vi t i es t ot al workare di vi ded i nt o economi c and househol d works.
Source: Bureau of St at i st i cs, Management and Coordi nat i on Agency, Japan,The Report on t he Basi c Survey on Soci al Li f e i n 1981, 1986, 1991 and 1996.
Sunday
Househol d
Total Work
Total Work
Total Work
Total Work
Economi c
Weekday
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Fi gure 7. The Rat i o of t he Ti me Spent f or Fami l y Mat t ers f orMal e Adul t Popul at i on i n Sel ected Developed Count ri es: Ci rca 1990
N. B. The rat i o of t he t i me spent f or f ami l y mat t ers f or adul t mal e popul ati on i s t ot he tot al t i me spent f or economi c act i vi t i es and f ami l y mat t ers i n a week.The data draws on var i ous surveys undert aken between 1985 and 1992.
Source: UNDP, Human Devel opment Report 1995, 1995.Burean of St at i st i cs, Managemnt and Coordi nat i on Agency.The Report on t he Basi c Survey on Social Li f e i n 1991.
1.00
1.10
1.20
1.30
1.40
1.50
1.60
1.70
1.80
1.90
2.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Ratio of Time Spent for Family Matters (%)
o t a l f e r t i l
i t y
r a t e
Japan
Italy
Denmark
Aust ri a
UK
Net herl ands
Germany
Fi nl and
Nor way
Aust ral i a
USA France
(r=0.39)
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Note: "What do you think is the closest to express your thinking among the attitudes listed below?"
1.I will work hard to become rich.2.I will live diligently and win a name for myself.
3.I will live a life fitting my taste, and not care about becomingrich or famous.4.I would take it easy and live each day nonchalantly.5.I will live cleanly and righteously forcing out all evils
in society.6.I will devote myself for the benefit of society instead of
thinking solely about myself.7.Others8.D.K.
Source: (IMS, 1994)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
1953 1958 1963 1968 1973 1978 1983 1988 1993
( % )
1. "Want to become rich"
2. "Seek fame"
3. "Live to my taste"
4. "Live on nonchalantly"
6. "Serve for the benefit of society"
5. "Live a clean and righteous life"
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