EU Countries Implications for Promoting Fathers Participation in Parenting in Japan
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28 2 2016.10
Special Work-Family Balance of Families with Small Children:
Issue How to Achieve Gender Equality in Parenting
EU Countries Implications for Promoting
Fathers Participation in Parenting in Japan
Futoshi Taga
Abstract
This paper considered the challenges of promoting fathers participation in parenting in Japan by referring to
cases in the following EU countries: Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Japan s conspicuous feature con-
cerning fatherhood is a wide gap between ideal images of fathers and their actual behavior. Cases in the EU
countries imply that Japan might want to restructure themale-breadwinner regime and secure employment
opportunities for women, along with eliminating inequality between full-timers and part-timers. Social aware-
ness ofthe right of flexibility for time and space, rethinking gendered definitions of fatherhood and mother-
hood, and obligations and incentives through policy measures are also important. It has been urged that Japa-
nese family sociology focus on the interrelationship between family and the labor market, social-class
differences, and quality of life.
Key words: parenting by father, male breadwinner, gender equality
2016, Japanese Journal of Family Sociology, 28 2 : 207–213
Most noteworthy is the prevalence of positive images
I.Conditions of Fathers Parenting in Japan
of caring fathers. For a while after World War II, the fa-
This paper explores key factors for promoting Japa- ther s role was limited to working and providing for
nese fathers participation in childcare and achieve- the family. After the mid-1970s, although complaints
ment of gender equality in child-raising for Japanese were heard about chichioya-fuzai or a father s absence,
parents with small children. The paper consults cases which indicated that the father was absent from or at
in the following three EU countries: Germany (Schae- least emotionally distant from his family because of his
fer 2015), the Netherlands (den Dulk 2015), and Swe- work-centered life, a father was mainly expected to
den (Hobson 2015). These cases were reported at an discipline his children at home at the time. Taking care
international session during the 25th conference of the of infants has not been seen as a father s job but as a
Japan Society for Family Sociology. mother s job, at least until the 1980s. However, social
The wide gap between the contribution of mothers expectations for fathers participation in parenting
and that of fathers and the disparity between the ideal small children have been growing since the 1990s. The
images of fatherhood and fathers actual behaviors are national government earnestly began advocating the
the two conspicuous features of parenting in Japan. importance of fathers participation in childcare
In Japan, people s attitudes toward fatherhood have against a background of public concern for the rapidly
considerably changed during the last two decades. falling birthrate and implementation of gender-equal
Futoshi Taga: Faculty of Letters, Kansai University, 3–3–35 Yamate-cho, Suita, Osaka 564–8680, Japan
E-mail: f.taga@kansai-u.ac.jp
207Special Isuue: Work-Family Balance of Families with Small Children
policies. A poster and TV advertisement campaign by II.Obstructive Conditions for Gender Equality
the former Ministry of Health and Welfare in 1999 in Parenting
drew people s attention. In this ad, a popular TV star 1. Continuing male-breadwinner regime
was shown cradling his baby and saying, A man who Why is there such a wide gap between ideal images
does not take care of his children cannot be called a fa- of fatherhood and the actual behavior of fathers in Ja-
ther (Taga 2011: 129–30). In the 2010s, the term iku- pan? Cases from the EU countries provided above im-
men, meaning fathers who play an active role in child- ply that, while these countries have discussed promo-
raising, became prevalent. Additionally, a discursive tion of fathers participation in parenting, taken policy
shift occurred from negative expressions that criticized actions for expansion of women s employment oppor-
fathers who did not take care of children to positive tunities, and standardized dual-earner couples, Japan
ones that praised fathers who took care of children has simply advocated fathers participation in parent-
(Taga 2011: 100–1). Indeed, fathers with small children ing without securing women s employment opportuni-
are becoming more involved in child-raising year after ties or restructuring the male-breadwinner regime
year (BERD 2016). (Takahashi 2014a).
However, in contrast to these cultural changes, fa- In Japan, many people still share a definitive notion
thers actual behaviors have hardly changed in recent of the gender division of labor and an evident expecta-
years (BERD 2016). Mothers burden of housework tion that men provide for the family. In 2014, more
and childcare remains quite heavy because of fathers than 40 of the population agreed with the idea that
scant participation. For example, while mothers with a the husband should work outside the home and the
child younger than six years spent 9 hours, 43 minutes wife should take on domestic duties (GEB 2016: 56).
on domestic duties (3 hours and 2 minutes of that for In 2013, about two-thirds of all wives agreed with the
parenting), fathers in the same situation spent, on an idea that the husband should give a high priority to
average, only 1 hour, 7 minutes a day on domestic du- the work of the company (IPSS 2014). Even though
ties (39 minutes of that for parenting) (GEB 2016: 9). about 60 of all employed persons households had
In addition, while the percentage of female workers dual-income, the majority of employed women (56.7
who took childcare leave in 2014, considering all fe- in 2014) are non-regular employees who are generally
male regular-workers who gave birth, is 86.6, the paid far less and discharged more easily than regular
percentage for their male counterparts was only 2.3. employees (GEB 2015: 54–6). These facts suggest that a
As a result, more than 60 of the women who had a majority of husbands still take primary responsibility
job during their first pregnancy quit within a year after for being breadwinners.
delivery (MHLW 2015: 287). This means that actual fa- Even after enactment of the Equal Employment Op-
thers participation in childcare has not advanced portunity Law for Men and Women in the mid-1980s,
enough to reduce mothers substantial burden of child- subsequent introduction of work–life balance (WLB)
care and therefore prevent them from resigning their and policy measures such as the parental leave system,
jobs. As Ishii-Kuntz observes, although positive images labor customs, in which males who work long hours to
of caring fathers have spread and fathering culture fulfill employers demands are regarded as standard
has grown, actual fathering actions are not yet ob- and ideal, have continued. By meeting such employ-
served very much (2013: 38–9). ers demands, many fathers achieve job security, earn a
decent income, and fulfill expectations as the family
20828 2 2016.10
breadwinner but do not have time for household du- Even if fathers could reduce working hours, doing
ties. In contrast, women have faced a dilemma between so would work against their economic interests. As will
career and having children because it is practically im- be supposed by the fact that the ratio of female non-
possible to achieve balance between such a standard regular employees to total female employees (56.7)
for working and child-raising. As a result, many wom- is much higher than their male counterparts (21.8)
en who give birth resign their positions or take part- (GEB 2015: 54), many dual-career couples with chil-
time jobs, which demand a lighter workload in ex- dren appear to consist of a full-time husband and a
change for employment instability and much lower part-time wife. If a husband is considerably advan-
wages, in order to assume nearly full responsibility for taged in payment over his wife, a reasonable choice is
child-raising. that the wife reduce her work hours to minimize re-
As long as these situations remain as they are, pro- duction of household income. In some cases, a hus-
motion of fathers participation in parenting is unlikely band works longer than previously and the wife resigns
to work well. As described below, under the current her job to exclusively engage in childcare is an eco-
employment system, full-time fathers have great diffi- nomically better choice.
culty reducing their working hours. If promotion of fa- To promote fathers participation in childcare, nar-
thers participation in parenting is really needed, the rowing the wage gap between men and women is nec-
male-breadwinner regime should be reconstructed. essary. This can be achieved by eliminating wage in-
equality between full-timers and part-timers according
2. Inequality between full-timers and part-timers to the principle of equal pay for equivalent jobs. If this
A key reason for the inability of fathers with small happened then a father working longer hours and a
children to reduce their working hours is the gender mother resigning or reducing working hours to care
discrepancy in wage and working conditions, based on for children would no longer be an economically viable
inequality between full-timers and part-timers. choice. Subsequently, along with the assistance of
On the one hand, part-time workers, who in princi- childcare services, a father could reduce working hours
ple have non-regular employment positions, experi- and participate in childcare more easily; moreover, a
ence a huge disadvantage in payment compared to full- mother could reduce the burden of childcare and work
timers, who in most cases have regular employment longer than before.
positions. In 2015, the level of average official hourly However, to realize this situation, various challenges
wages for non-regular part-time workers was 57.1 of need to be overcome.
that for regular full-time workers (GEB 2016: 43). On III.Promotional Actions for Gender Equality
the other hand, regular employees are more likely to be in Parenting
burdened with heavy workloads and made to labor un- 1. Flexibility of time and space
der inflexible work conditions. They are supposed to One prerequisite for promoting fathers participa-
have no choice but to work long and flexible hours ac- tion in parenting is flexibility of working style. The
cording to their employers demands because they are right for flexibility of time and space, a concept widely
guaranteed more secure employment and higher sala- accepted in the EU countries, is quite suggestive in this
ries than non-regular employees. Under these circum- context. Although a proportion of workplaces have in-
stances, full-time fathers have extreme difficulty in re- troduced flexible work hours and teleworking (work-
ducing work hours in the first place. ing from home), flexibility of time and space has so
209Special Isuue: Work-Family Balance of Families with Small Children
far hardly been recognized as a fundamental right for Japan, tacit social assumptions similar to those in Ja-
Japanese workers. Rather, as related above, regular pan still appear: WLB is a women s issue, women are
male employees in Japan seem to reconcile themselves the main carers, and accessing work–family policies af-
to having no choice but to fulfill their employers de- fects career trajectories (Schaefer 2015; den Dulk 2015;
mands to work long hours because they are guaranteed Hobson 2015). In other words, even if men and wom-
more secure employment and higher salaries than en have equal opportunities and conditions for work-
non-regular employees. force participation, gender equality in parenting will
If flexibility of time and space for working were seen not necessarily be accomplished.
as a fundamental right, not for employers but for Primarily, redefining the meaning of fatherhood/
workers, they could more easily adjust periods of time masculinity, now defined with a core of breadwinning,
for work and family life. Such a situation would cer- would be required. As related above, although partici-
tainly support fathers participation in childcare. pating in childcare itself is no longer regarded as un-
However, cases in the EU countries demonstrate masculine, playing the role of provider still appears as
that simply obtaining flexibility of time and space is the nucleus of social definitions of ideal masculinity.
not a sufficient condition for reducing work hours or Interviews with Japanese middle-class fathers with
promoting fathers participation in parenting (Hobson small children indicate that the main reason of their
2014). For example, in the Netherlands, where tele- reluctance to participate in childcare is not related to
working is popular among WLB policy measures, hav- their dislike of childcare itself but because they fear
ing a child does not raise the probability of telework- that active participation in childcare might negatively
ing. Instead, male managers and specialists mostly use affect their occupational achievements and threaten
this option because it is a convenient way for them to their positions as providers (Taga 2011). The key to im-
work overtime (den Dulk 2015). In Japan, the manage- proving fathers active involvement in child-raising is
rial class and specialists who seem to have more flexi- not only to encourage them in child-raising but also to
bility than other types of workers generally work lon- liberate them from work and earning.
ger because they have a heavier workload and wish to Additionally, changing mothers attitudes and rede-
achieve high performance (Taga 2011). A condition fining motherhood would also be important. Increas-
that enables them to work anytime and anywhere is ing a wife s expectation for her husband to perform
likely to make them work longer and to have their more domestic duties seems not necessarily to be ac-
work encroach on family life. Many readers of this companied by decreasing her expectation for him to
journal might be experiencing this situation in their play the breadwinner role. As mentioned above, while
daily lives. We should remember that, although flexi- 80.5 of all wives agreed with the idea that the hus-
bility of time and space is an effective option for WLB, band should share housework and childcare duties
it is not a cure-all; it could present some side effects. equally with the wife, 67.0 of all wives also agree
2. Redefinition of fatherhood and motherhood that the husband should give a high priority to the
Cases in the EU countries also indicate that, to pro- work of the company (IPSS 2014). The view that wives
mote fathers participation in childcare, rethinking become reluctant to work under current employment
gendered assumptions about prevalent social roles of a conditions in which women are tremendously disad-
provider and carer is important. Even in the EU coun- vantaged makes sense. However, if wives allow this sit-
tries where the gender gap is much narrower than in uation to continue, it will most likely lead to a vicious
21028 2 2016.10
circle. The pursuit of gender equality in parenting through implementation of political measures or eco-
should be accompanied by discussions of gender nomic conditions. Although paying attention to histor-
equality in work and responsibility for breadwinning. ical and social differences between countries is neces-
Along with fathers capability of being a carer, mother s sary, it is also important for Japan to learn from the EU
capability of being another provider for the family countries policies and their effects.
should be discussed more seriously in Japan.
IV.Challenges for Research on WLB
To achieve more active involvement in childcare, fa-
in Japanese Family Sociology
thers must feel secure when they reduce working
hours. This must occur not only by establishing social In the last section, based on suggestions implied
acceptance of a diverse way of life for men but also by through EU countries experiences, I propose the fol-
promoting mothers participation in the workforce to lowing three challenges to Japanese family sociology in
maintain household income. Expansion of career op- order to contribute to the promotion of WLB for Japa-
portunities for women and elimination of pay inequal- nese parents with small children.
ity between men and women are also required. First, paying more attention to the interrelationship
3. Obligations and incentives by policy measures between family and work is important. WLB problems
Certainly, earnest enlightenment activities are nec- are caused by the relationship between family life and
essary to change social definitions of fatherhood and occupational life. Family life becomes regulated by
motherhood and to change fathers and mothers atti- work life and vice versa. Although focusing on this
tudes, as discussed above. However, the EU cases dem- phenomenon in family life is necessary, it would be
onstrate that changing actual behaviors first is also ef- helpful if family sociology would not view occupation-
fective through imposition of obligations and al life as just an external environment but would con-
provision of incentives by policy measures. For exam- sider the interactions between occupational life and
ple, Sweden, now one of the leading countries in gen- family life, based on interdisciplinary exchange with
der equality and fathers childcare participation, once labor studies.
faced parenting conditions similar to those in contem- Secondly, researchers should examine social-class
porary Japan. Immediately after implementation of the differences in capabilities for WLB and actual status of
1974 policy measure, the proportion of fathers taking WLB, which previous research in Japanese family soci-
parental leave was about two percent. However, over ology has hardly clarified. In the EU countries, fathers
the course of the introduction of the daddy quota in in white-collar jobs are reported to be more likely to
1995, the period of parental leave that only fathers can have capabilities of WLB. In Japan also, large compa-
take one month and its subsequent extension to nies, compared to small and mid-sized companies, are
two months, along with an income security of 80 more likely to have introduced WLB policy measures
during leave resulted in more than 70 of fathers tak- such as flexible work hours (GEB 2016: 23–4). Howev-
ing that option by 2010 (Takahashi 2014b; Hobson er, we must keep in mind that the capability of WLB
2015). does not always directly lead to its realization. As relat-
Even though differences in gender relations between ed above, Japanese middle-class men may confirm
Japan and Western countries can be recognized as es- their identity by their occupational success and subor-
sential cultural differences and difficult to transform in dinate their private lives to work (Taga 2011). In con-
a short time, they might be changed more easily trast, some studies suggest that male working-class
211Special Isuue: Work-Family Balance of Families with Small Children
workers are more likely to distinguish work from pri-
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