Work–Life Balance That Enables Both Spouses to Be More Involved at Home

In contemporary Japan, families with children continue to struggle to balance paid work with child-rearing and family life. While work–family support policies—such as the expansion of childcare services—have made it easier to remain in the workforce, enriching children’s upbringing and family life still requires changes to how people work.

• Child-Rearing Environments and Families
• A Good Marital Relationship Positively Influences Mothers’ Parenting
• Policy Trends in Work-Style Reform
• Shortened Working Hours for Childcare
• Part-Time Work in the Netherlands
• Can We Redefine “Regular Employment = Full-Time Work”?

Child-Rearing Environments and Families

In fiscal year 2023, the number of child abuse consultations reached 225,509, marking the 33rd consecutive year since statistics began. In modern Japan, many people allocate their time and mental and physical energy mainly to work, leaving them with insufficient time for child-rearing and family life. Furthermore, with the increase in dual-income households, it is becoming more common for parents to shoulder multiple roles between work, child-rearing, and family life. This situation is thought to be contributing to parents' stress and making them more likely to treat their children harshly.

Source: Created by the author based on the Children's Family Agency's "Number of child abuse consultations in child consultation centers in 2023."(こども家庭庁「令和5年度 児童相談所における児童虐待相談対応件数」)

It is important to realize a way of working that allows flexible changes in time and location according to the circumstances of children and families. This article examines the introduction of part-time work into regular employment as a way of working that enables both men and women to be sufficiently involved in family life. It is based on the recognition that the involvement of both spouses in child-rearing and family life enhances the quality of care.

Research suggests that joint involvement by mothers and fathers in childrearing and family life enhances the quality of parenting. Ogata and Miyashita argue that fathers’ cooperative participation in housework and childcare improves marital relations, which in turn reduces mothers’ stress and promotes more positive parenting behaviors (尾形・宮下 2003).

A Good Marital Relationship Positively Influences Mothers’ Parenting

In Ogata and Miyashita (2003), fathers’ cooperative involvement was conceptualized with two factors: “communication with the child and spouse” and “assistance with housework.” Findings for dual-earner families were as follows (尾形・宮下 2003).

Source: Compiled by the author

When the father scored high on communication with the child and spouse, mothers perceived the marital relationship more positively, and their parenting behaviors were also favorably affected. Regarding marital-relationship indicators, higher paternal communication increased “respect and trust toward the husband” and “egalitarian relationship,” while decreasing “dissatisfaction with the husband’s busyness” (see the table below for details). At the same time, maternal mental-health indicators showed reductions in "sense of entrapment/being closed off" and "lack of concentration." In terms of parenting, mothers showed decreases in “authoritarian/coercive attitude” and “rejecting attitude,” and an increase in “affiliative/warm attitude.” Fathers’ assistance with housework increased the marital indicator “expectations/demands toward oneself and the family” as perceived by mothers, which in turn directly increased mothers’ “affiliative/warm attitude” in parenting. Fathers’ assistance with housework also directly decreased mothers’ “authoritarian/coercive attitude.” However, for the indicator “rejecting attitude,” fathers’ assistance with housework was associated with a rise mediated through the increase in “expectations/demands toward oneself and the family” within the marital relationship.

Source: Created by the author based on Ogata and Miya (2003)(尾形・宮下 2003).

Thus, in dual-earner households, fathers’ involvement in the home generally has a positive effect on mothers’ parenting behaviors.

At the same time, fathers’ engagement with their children is also shaped by the marital relationship. In particular, some studies suggest that mothers’ views of the father affect the father–child relationship and, in turn, the child’s psychological health（大島 2016）. Sasaki likewise reports that higher levels of spousal cooperation are associated with stronger paternal awareness of children’s extracurricular activities, and that when both paternal awareness and mothers’ perceived spousal cooperation are high, fathers’ behaviors related to those activities increase (佐々木 2009).

Taken together, these findings indicate that it is crucial for both husbands and wives to be sufficiently involved in family life for effective childrearing. Rather than relying on one parent alone, we need work arrangements that allow both partners to participate in childcare and family life, and a family-level approach to work–life balance that makes this possible.

Policy Trends in Work-Style Reform

When both spouses aim to be fully involved in childcare and family life, a central question is whether work-style reforms actually secure the time families need.

A recent policy milestone was the enactment of the Work-Style Reform–Related Laws in July 2018. Eight statutes—including the Labor Standards Act—were amended and have been phased in since April 2019. The key points are: establishing a legal cap on overtime hours that cannot be exceeded even under a “36 Agreement” (a labor–management agreement that permits overtime beyond the statutory working hours); requiring employers to grant ten days of annual paid leave; and prohibiting unreasonable differences in treatment between regular and non-regular employees.

Source: Compiled by the author

Let us take a closer look at the first item—the cap on working hours. Under the recent amendments, a hard ceiling was introduced that cannot be exceeded even under a 36 Agreement: overtime must be kept within 45 hours per month and 360 hours per year. Even when workloads temporarily increase during busy periods, employers must still satisfy the conditions that the multi-month average of overtime be 80 hours or less, and that overtime in any single month be under 100 hours.

While the establishment of a legal cap is a landmark step, the substance of these limits is insufficient from the standpoint of family life. According to Fujii (2023), working up to the ceiling adversely affects workers’ subjective health. Specifically, when monthly working hours exceed 210 hours, workers’ health deteriorates; converted to overtime, 210 hours corresponds to roughly 50 hours of overtime. From the perspective of preventing health impairment, therefore, the overtime thresholds introduced in April 2019 are not necessarily adequate (藤井 2023). Moreover, the monthly hours at which subjective health worsens differ by gender: for men, deterioration appears around 230 hours per month, while for women it appears around 200 hours (藤井 2023).

Deterioration in subjective health increases stress and can negatively affect child-rearing and family life. In addition, even if monthly overtime is held to the 45-hour limit set by the Labor Standards Act, that still implies 1–2 hours of extra work per day. Combined with prescribed working hours, the workday becomes 9–10 hours, leaving little time for childcare and family life. For households raising children, mechanisms that allow shorter working hours than those for the general workforce are needed.

Shortened Working Hours for Childcare

Under the current system, one of the arrangements that allow families raising children to work shorter hours than ordinary workers is the Shortened Working Hours for Childcare system.

The Shortened Working Hours for Childcare system is a scheme stipulated in Article 23 of the Child Care and Family Care Leave Act, which requires employers to establish a system whereby the prescribed working hours per day are, in principle, six hours for workers raising children under the age of three. By using this system, employees working standard daytime hours can leave work around 4 p.m., making it easier to manage family life. Furthermore, under the Policy on Children’s Future Strategy approved by the Cabinet on June 13, 2023, a new benefit called the Childcare Reduced-Hours Employment Benefit is scheduled to be introduced in 2025 for those utilizing this system. If realized, this is expected to make it easier to achieve a better work–life balance.

However, the Shortened Working Hours for Childcare system also has limitations in terms of ensuring that parents can allocate sufficient time and energy to childcare and family life until their children reach a more independent stage. To begin with, the establishment of shortened working hours beyond the age of three is left merely as a recommended effort for employers. Yet, the time and effort required for housework and childcare do not decrease simply because a child turns three. If parents return to full-time work, the reduced time available for family life may affect children’s routines, including their sleeping hours.

In addition, there is a disparity in who makes use of, or is able to make use of, the system. According to a 2022 survey conducted by the Japan Management Association Research Institute, the combined percentage of respondents who answered that they were “currently using” or “had previously used but were not currently using” the shortened working hours system for childcare was 51.2% among female regular employees, 24.3% among female non-regular employees, 7.6% among male regular employees, and 12.3% among male non-regular employees (Japan Management Association Research Institute, 2023). This disparity is partly attributable to the fact that the shortened working hours system has traditionally been implemented as a means of supporting the reconciliation of work, childcare, and family life primarily for women in regular employment. By contrast, non-regular employees have historically been positioned as a flexible labor force whose working hours could be more easily adjusted through employers’ discretion in renewing or terminating contracts.

Thus, the current shortened working hours system cannot be said to adequately provide those who need it with sufficient access for the period during which they require it.

Part-Time Work in the Netherlands

Given the limitations of Japan’s current “shorter working hours for childrearing” schemes, there is a need for a system that allows anyone—regardless of gender or employment status—to adjust their working hours over a longer period if they wish. In considering such a system, the Dutch model of part-time work offers a useful reference point.

In the Netherlands, “part-time work” does not refer to non-regular or fixed-term employment such as “part-time” jobs in Japan (these are generally categorized as flexible work). Rather, it can be understood as encompassing all forms of employment with shorter working hours compared to full-time work. According to Gonjo (2011), most part-time work in the Netherlands is regular employment and extends across a wide range of occupations, not only among unskilled workers. Consequently, the wage gap between part-time and full-time workers is very small（権丈2011）.

Dutch legal reforms on part-time work advanced significantly in the 1990s. In 1993, the Labor Law was amended to mandate equal pay proportional to working hours for workers in the same occupation, regardless of whether they were employed full-time or part-time (明石2018). In 1996, equality with full-time workers was extended across all employment conditions—including wages, allowances, benefits, training, and occupational pensions (権丈2011). Furthermore, the Working Hours Adjustment Act of 2000 granted employees the right to reduce or increase their contracted hours while maintaining the same hourly wage (権丈2011).

Source: Compiled by the author

The Dutch approach to part-time work offers several important lessons. First, regular (permanent) employees are guaranteed the right to choose a schedule other than full-time. Allowing regular employees to select their working hours is likely to enhance employment stability for people who work while carrying family-care responsibilities such as childcare or eldercare. Second, the right to adjust working hours rests with the employee. Workers hold not only the right to reduce but also to extend their hours, which means the decision about how long to remain on shortened hours is left to them. As a result, individuals can confidently continue short-hours arrangements until their care needs are resolved.

Can We Redefine “Regular Employment = Full-Time Work”?

The Dutch approach to part-time work could also be effective for improving work–life balance among families with children in Japan. If legal protections for part-time work were strengthened in Japan, the current age-based restrictions built into short-hours schemes for childcare would no longer apply.

More importantly, such reforms could help overturn the entrenched assumption that regular employment necessarily means full-time work. If differences in employment conditions between full-time and part-time positions were eliminated, people who are currently in non-regular jobs for the sake of shorter hours would have an opportunity to convert to regular status. This would both expand access to regular employment and shift the prevailing model of regular work away from a built-in expectation of long hours. It would also make it easier for male regular employees, who have found it hard to use short-hours arrangements, to do so.

That said, even with the same hourly wage, part-time work inevitably results in lower total income than full-time work. In the Netherlands, there is a life-course savings scheme that allows workers to set aside a portion of pre-tax income and later withdraw it when taking unpaid leave, such as parental leave. Although eligibility differs between unpaid leave and short-hours periods, tax incentives for saving pre-tax income can help those who temporarily choose part-time work.

This article has examined ways to achieve a work–life balance that enables both spouses to increase their involvement at home, on the premise that marital relations have a significant impact on childrearing. Based on a review of Japan’s current working-hours policies and the Dutch model of part-time work, there appears to be clear value in making part-time arrangements possible within regular employment in Japan. Going forward, it will be important to refine this discussion in light of Japanese firms’ talent management strategies and related considerations.

(Published with additions and revisions in the November 2023 issue of "EN-ICHI FORUM")

References

• 明石留美子(2018)「ワーキングマザーのワーク・ライフ・バランス：女性のウェルビーイングが保たれる社会へ─オランダの在り方から考える─」『明治学院大学社会学・社会福祉学研究』150、pp.21-45.
• 大島聖美(2016)「夫婦関係の子どもの養育―夫婦間のコペアレンティングに向けて」『広島国際大学心理学部紀要』3、pp.79-90.
• 尾形和男・宮下一博（2003)「母親の養育行動に及ぼす要因の検討―父親の協力的関わりに基づく夫婦関係、母親のストレスを中心にして」『千葉大学教育学部研究紀要』51、pp.5-15.
• こども家庭庁（2023）「こども未来戦略方針―次元の異なる少子化対策の実現のための『こども未来戦略』の策定に向けて ―」（2023年6月13日閣議決定）.
• 権丈英子(2011)「オランダにおけるワーク・ライフ・バランス―労働時間と就業場所の柔軟性が高い社会」、RIETI Discussion Paper Series 11-J-030.
• 佐々木卓代(2009)「子どもの習い事を媒介とする父親の子育て参加と子どもの自己受容感」『家族社会学研究』21(1)、pp.65-77.
• 藤井英彦(2023)「労働時間と主観的健康感との関係に関するパネル分析」『労働安全衛生学研究』16(1)、pp.3-10.
• 日本能率協会総合研究所(2023)「仕事と育児の両立等に関する実態把握のための調査研究事業」（労働者調査）令和4年度厚生労働省委託事業.

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