The Impact of Marriage and Childbearing on Women’s Employment and Earnings in Urban China and Japan

Using data from the China General Social Survey and Japan General Social Survey, this paper examines: (1) differences in gender inequality in labor force participation and earnings between China and Japan; (2) if family characteristics, such as marriage and presence of preschool children and children under 18 years old, have larger negative effects on women’s employment and earnings in Japan than in China; (3) factors accounting for the differences, if any. The results indicate that whereas marital status and spouse’s education and earnings have significant negative effects on women’s labor force participation in Japan, these factors have smaller effects on women’s labor force participation in China. Motherhood earnings penalty is only significant in the non-public sector, not in the public sector in Japan. In China, motherhood earnings penalty is not significant in both the public and the non-public sectors. While married men earn significantly more than single men in Japan and marital status has no significant effect on men’s earnings in China, marriage earnings penalty for women in both countries exists. I discuss the effects of state policies, labor market structures, family system, and individual characteristics on men and women’s labor force participation and earnings from a comparative gender stratification perspective.