Theorising fatherhood, welfare and the decline of patriarchy in Japan

Abstract

This paper investigates social policies concerning men's transitions to fatherhood and the changing role of fathers in Japan. A review of fathering research reveals a predominantly agency-level emphasis on role-strain between work and paternal identities with a specific discourse of weakened Japanese fatherhood. Previous research suggested Japanese gender equality and work-life balance initiatives stalled due to an absence of women's influence within Japan's corporate culture. This study offers a historical perspective to show modern family policies were essentially rooted in gender-equality campaigns led by women's organisations dating back to post-WWII era. The findings situate Japanese social policy and epistemology in the international vanguard of a ‘Nordic turn’ towards structural-level research and improved social citizenship rights to support men's transitions to fatherhood.

Keywords:

• fathering
• work-life balance
• parental leave
• gender equality
• social policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributors

Dr Michael Rush is a lecturer in the School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice at University College Dublin and member of the Family Research Committee (RC06). From 2009 to 2013 Dr Rush was the government appointed representative for Ireland on the European Union sponsored Alliance for Families Network. His latest book is titled Between Two Worlds of Father Politics: USA or Sweden? It is published by Manchester University Press (2015) and presents a critical framework for comparing ways of understanding national variations in child support schemes and ‘father-friendly’ parental leave policies across advanced welfare states in Europe, East Asia and the USA. Previously published works include a co-edited volume (with Bryan Fanning) entitled Care, Social Change and the Irish Welfare Economy, Dublin: UCD Press (2006). His evaluation research with Irish NGOs informed the development of A Three-fold Taxonomy of Transformative Social Work Practice, which was presented in ‘The Social Politics of Social Work: anti-oppressive social work dilemmas for twenty-first century welfare regimes' (2013 with Dr Marie Keenan) for the British Journal of Social Work.