ABSTRACT
The life course of women, their getting married and having children, has implications for their participation in the labor market. As we saw in the last chapter Japanese women’s labor force participation is predominantly of a discontinuous kind, represented by the bi-modal, so-called M-shape pattern. It is common to stop working on marriage or as soon as a child is born, and it is towards this phenomenon that most policies to raise the birth rate and to improve the work–life balance have been directed. In this chapter we shall examine economic inequalities among households with children, with particular attention to the need for help in bringing up children.
