京都大学 大学院経済学研究科・経済学部

タイトル:

“Husband’s Retirement and Housework Burden: Unpacking Gender Dynamics in Japanese Marriages”

Abstract:
Japanese wives traditionally bear the homemaking burden while the husbands engage in formal employment. This study examines the reallocation of time spent on housework among Japanese married couples post husbands’ retirement, focusing on the difference in perception by the responding spouse. Utilizing household panel data, a dynamic staggered difference-in-difference design is employed to analyze up to five years surrounding retirement, comparing households with husbands from identical cohorts. Results show that the aggregate time dedicated to housework remains unchanged following husbands’ retirement and that the wives continue to be the primary provider of housework. Although retired husbands show a modest increase in chore participation, this result is driven primarily by husbands already participating pre-retirement and fails to compensate for the initial differences in reporting, revealing a continued conflict in the perception of the burden. The persistent imbalance in housework provision poses a potential risk to welfare for elderly households, if the wife’s ability to perform chores diminishes. Given the increasing shortage of caregivers, these results point at an important social issue.