Changes in the Labour Supply of Japanese Women between 1993 and 2008: A Panel Data Analysis

In Japan a negative relationship between the labour force participation rate of married women and spouse income has been observed. It has also been remarked that the labour force participation rate of married women has almost no correlation with their level of educational attainment. This paper examines whether there has been any changes in recent cohorts. Two kinds of panel data released in Japan (the JPSC and KHPS) are used for the analyses; one with two and the other, four observed labour market outcomes as dependent variables. The results suggest that the cohort differentials in both the probability of working and attaining full-time employment are weak. The effect of spouse income on female labour force participation is significantly negative, while that of higher education on working and full-time employment is not robust. The results also indicate both younger university graduates and their older counterparts have approximately the same probability of gaining full time employment, suggesting more needs to be done to ensure higher education is beneficial for Japanese women in terms of employment outcomes.