The Political Economy of Japan's Low Fertility

"The Political Economy of Japan's Low Fertility is that most desirable sort of edited volume: a compact, tightly focused, and accessible collection of investigations into a problem that is compelling across a range of subject areas... [It] does a clean and thoughtful job of applying political economy models to explaining why it makes sense for Japanese women to opt out of childbearing. The book's heavy emphasis on rational-actor explanations and the persistent use of comparative cases from Europe and the United States encourage readers to see Japan's fertility rate as a complicated and yet understandable phenomenon to which there might well be an effective policy response." - Journal of Japanese Studies "[The Political Economy of Japan's Low Fertility] provides rich, multidisciplinary insight into the work-family nexus in the only non-Western country to have had below-replacement-level fertility for more than a generation. Each chapter stands on its own, but the book is best read by starting at the beginning and going to the end." - American Journal of Sociology "Extremely rich, both conceptually and empirically, [The Political Economy of Japan's Low Fertility] provides readers with a detailed, sophisticated account of factors that explain Japan's record low fertility, with some chapters contributing rigorous and pertinent international comparisons. Taking a feminist stance, the editor and authors of this book suggest that having children in Japan means that women often lose their economic independence, along with the satisfaction and benefits of a career; hence, many women have no choice but to forego motherhood altogether... By including comparative analyses with North America and Europe, the volume literally provides a framework for a political economy of low fertility in all countries that are dealing with prolonged below-replacement fertility." - Canadian Journal of Sociology "This book does a great job of explaining Japan's fertility conundrum in comparative context...the book is a valuable contribution to our understanding of how gender inequality in the labor market functions to dampen fertility and keep women in the economically vulnerable position." - Asian Anthropology