Since 1967 the number of fatherless families had been rising, but a Ministry of Health and Welfare survey has revealed that in 1993 the figure dropped by about 7% from five years earlier. This survey is taken every five years to obtain data useful in establishing welfare policies. The most recent survey was taken on August 1, 1993, in 1,800 randomly selected census districts.
On the basis of the survey, Japan is estimated to have 789,900 fatherless families, representing a decline of 59,300 since the previous survey, which was taken in 1988. The number of motherless families was 157,300, a drop of 16,000 in five years.
One of the main reasons for this reduction is that more women are remarrying. Whereas the 1988 survey showed that about 402,000 women had remarried during the previous five years, in the 1993 survey, this total rose by 6.1% to 426,000. Another reason is the tendency to have fewer children, as indicated by a drop in the number of couples with children at the time of divorce from 555,000 to 533,000, a decline of 3.8%.
The reasons families were without fathers was due to divorce in about 508,000 cases (64.3%), death in about 195,000 (24.6%), and unwed mothers in about 38,000 (4.7%). Compared with 1988, death had decreased by 23% and divorce by 4%, but the number of unwed mothers had risen by 20%. Reasons given for the increase in unwed mothers included the diversification of views concerning marriage and child bearing, an increase among women and society as a whole of people who do not necessarily hold to traditional marriage values, and the fact that the improvement of educational and job opportunities for women in Japanese society has made it easier for them to achieve economic independence.
The average annual income of a fatherless family is about 2.15 million yen. Although 87% of the mothers work, only 53% are permanently employed; 31% hold temporary or part-time jobs. The number owning homes is a low 34%. Those indicating that they currently face some problem came to 71%, of whom 36% indicated that the household budget was a difficulty.
Motherless families are better off economically, with average annual income of 4.23 million yen and 56% owning homes. Of the 62% who indicated they face some problem, 29% gave housework as the reason and 17% the household budget.
(The above article, edited by Japan Echo Inc., is based on domestic Japanese news sources. It is offered for reference purposes and does not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government.)