In a country where men are still widely expected to be breadwinners and support families, a lack of good jobs may be creating a class of men who don’t marry and have children because they—and their potential partners—know they can’t afford to.Japanese women haven't gotten into the "having babies while single" thing we've seen in this country. Perhaps they would if their government subsidized it as ours has.
This may seem surprising in Japan, a country where the economy is currently humming along, and the unemployment rate is below 3 percent. But the shrinking economic opportunities stem from a larger trend that is global in nature: the rise of unsteady employment.
In a culture that places such an emphasis on men being breadwinners, this has serious implications for marriage and childbearing. Men who don’t have regular jobs are not considered desirable marriage partners.
About 30 percent of irregular workers in their early 30s are married, compared to 56 percent of full-time corporate employees.
Running businesses almost entirely with temporary and part-time workers started with fast food in this country and spread to retail, food service more generally, and many other kinds of employment.
The "gig economy" takes casual employment a step farther. Meanwhile birthrates drop in developed countries, perhaps we see cause and (an unintended) effect?
