Comparative Study on Gender and Families in Asian Societies

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This research examines three types of societies categorized by the patterns of women's labor force participation rate. "An inverted U-shaped Curve" society ; China and Thailand, "a Giraffe Curve" society ; Singapore and Taiwan, and "an M-shaped Curve" society ; Japan and Korea. This means that people, except the area of Japan and Korea, take the style of two-income family after childbirth and child rearing.In China, Thailand, and Singapore, relatives (parents, specially) help child rearing, and people hire servants in need. This has maintained the style of two-income family among those countries. Besides this point, each country has its own specific characteristics. In China (the South) today, women in maternity and in child rearing sustain their jobs by gaining the help by relatives (specially. by grandparents) and fathers' participation in child rearing. In recent Thailand (Urban Middle Class), the way of child rearing is changing. Depending on the marketization of housework, it shif … More ts from the care by parents (by wives, in general) and resident maids to the care by the staffs in a private day-care center. Urban Middle Class in Thailand starts having a full-time housewife. In 1998 and 1999, it had the first M-shaped Curve in the women's labor force participation rate. In Singapore, generally, relatives take care of a child, and parents hire foster parents for child rearing until a child enter a kindergarten. As the sign of marketization of child rearing, it is the most significant characteristic of Singapore that a resident maid take care housework instead of parents (parents do not do any housework).In conclusion, even in Japan and Korea, an M-shaped Curve society, the women's work force participation rate is now raising. In both countries, parents on wife's side support child rearing and use kindergartens for it, and a father participates in child rearing. However, Korea doesn't have an issue of isolation of mothers in child rearing. It is because people have closer relationship between relatives and various networks (neighborhoods and friends) more than Japan. Therefore, anxiety in child rearing remains one of the specific characteristics seen in Japan, which is unique in Asia. Less