Occupation, Family, and Lifelong Education after Middle Age in Japan and the United States

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This study aims at clarifying the changing patterns of occupational and family careers after middle age in Japan and the United States. Based on the quantitative analyses of Japan and US data, this study also examines how the changing patterns of life course are related to the expansion of lifelong education. The first part of this study, using OECD labor statistics, compared changes in employment patterns for women and the aged in Japan, Sweden, Germany, and the United States. It is shown that Japanese uniqueness has been evident since the middle of 1970s : Japanese society has maintained the M-shaped employment pattern for Japanese women' life course and high employment ratio among the Japanese aged. Although changes in Japanese life course are limited, compared with the US, the young cohort of college educated women continue to work after the age of 30 and a third of the aged are now economically secure as a result of pension system. These changes are related to the expansion of lifelong education in Japan. The second part of this study attempts to clarify family changes in the United States, examining the published statistics and current research results. American families has changed since the 1950s. Women' employment and individualism are important driving forces of changes. Self-fulfillment is now a crucial criterion of evaluating one's occupation, family and education over the life course in the U.S. The third part of this study points out that changes in Japanese life course since the middle 1970s are limited to women and the aged. However, changes in women and the aged have individualized one's life. Self-fulfillment, as a result of individualization, has now been pursued over one's life in Japan.