Job Satisfaction, Work Time, and Well-Being Among Married Women in Japan

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines the relationship between paid work time and other time use of working married women with children in Japan and two aspects of well-being: job satisfaction and stress. The study demonstrates that rather than the amount of daily paid work time, both the gap between actual and desired work time and the intrinsic utility derived from paid work as an activity appear to be the key time-related variables affecting Japanese women's job satisfaction. The paper also shows that paid work time has multiple spillover effects on stress. It discusses the tradeoffs that married women with children in Japan make to stay in employment and the consequences for employer strategies and public policy.