Reconceptualising co-residence in post-growth Japanese society

Abstract

Reconceptualising co-residence in post-growth Japanese society Misa Izuhara

Nation Branding and Public Diplomacy: Examining Japan’s 2019 Rugby World Cup and 2020(21) Olympic Games in the Midst of a Global Economic Downturn and the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Japan faces longstanding socio-economic challenges in the contemporary era. A population decline through a reduced birth-rate is evident, often linked to the lack of available space and the spiralling costs of raising children (Izuhara, 2020). It is estimated that Japan's current population of approximately 127 million could decrease significantly by 2050 (Wilkinson, 2015).…”

Family change, intergenerational relations and policy implications

“…Chile has one of the oldest national statistical institutes, the Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Chile (INE), created in 1843 to conduct a national population census every ten years, providing longitudinal information about population and household change in Chile's departments and provinces (Palma & Scott, 2019). Japan has conducted largescale population censuses almost every five years since 1920, administered by its National Statistics Centre (Izuhara, 2019). The French government created a national statistical service, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (Insée), in 1946, charged with providing socio-demographic and economic data to inform and underpin public policy (Letablier, 2019).…”

“…6-9). Some researchers have overcome such data limitations by carrying out qualitative ethnographic or biographical studies that contextualise specific conditions for the transmission of values, financial resources, goods and services in different countries, for example Izuhara (2019) in Japan, Liu and Cook (2019) in China and Žilinskienė and Ilic (2019) in twentieth century Lithuania. Findings from studies such as these yield reliable, comparable and replicable evidence for identifying changes in patterns of relationships within families and households over time, and for eliciting policy responses.…”

“…This expansion in intergenerational co-residence is largely due to precarious employment and falling marriage rates among the younger generation, associated in turn with low fertility rates, exacerbated by persisting social disapproval of extramarital births. Using census data and attitudinal surveys, Izuhara (2019) examines changing postwar patterns of co-residence and then conceptualises its shifting functions. From being motivated by social norms and family reciprocity, co-residence has become a more cost-effective option for young adults on low incomes in a difficult housing market.…”

“…By the 1970s, governments were also developing policies that would encourage female labour market activity and bolster labour supply, while simultaneously facilitating childbearing/rearing and improving gender equality. By the turn of the twenty-first century, in countries as diverse as France and Japan preoccupied with the risk of population decline, a major concern was to sustain the birth rate (Izuhara, 2019;Letablier, 2019). In recent times, governments of countries such as China, Iran, and the Republic of Korea have also adopted pronatalist policies.…”