Meaning Given to Late Motherhood by Contemporary Japanese Women

Hideko Matsuo, University of Groningen

The postponement of motherhood is an important phenomenon in many low fertility countries. A number of socio-economic factors, such as higher female educational attainment, greater female labor force participation, the absence or instability of partnerships, cause this. Cultural factors, such as individualization of values, reduced normative control and feminism, are considered to be one of the important factors in explaining the causal mechanism of this phenomenon. Cultural factors explain why in some countries recuperation behavior (catching up motherhood in age 30s) is present, and why in some countries this is absent. This paper studies in more detail the role of societal values regarding late motherhood, and in particular, focuses on the perception of women on motherhood and marriage system as well as their perceived parental views on these issues. Fifty-one single and married Japanese women without children were interviewed using focus group discussion interview techniques.