Japanese Wives' Perception of Fairness in the Division of Household Labor

This paper investigates determinants of wives' perceptions of equity in the division of household labor in Japan. Running a regression analysis on data from 253 female respondents clarified the following five points. First, the greater the husband' s actual contributions to housework were, the less likely the wife was to see housework as unfairly divided. Second, the demand of housework as represented by the number of children, and the wife's human capital to conduct household labor also determined the sense of justice in the division of labor. Third, more egalitarian-minded wife tended to see her existing arrangement as unfair. Fourth, woman with less power in relation to her husband was less likely to view a given division of housework as fair, while woman who held more power evaluated the same division as unfair. Finally, the higher the husband's socio-economic status was, the less likely the wife was to see housework as unfair.