Women’s employment, work-life balance policies, and inequality across the life course: a comparative analysis of Japan, Sweden and the United States

ABSTRACT

We draw from a number of theoretical perspectives and frameworks on the life course, age and gender scholarship to argue their value in furthering critical discussions on work-life balance policies and their contributions to women’s employment and economic security in later life. Using OECD and other big data sets, we examine the patterns of women’s employment over the life course in Japan, Sweden and the United States, as three illustrated cases of welfare states with different nation’s work-life balance policies. We summarize findings before offering concluding thoughts to advocate for women’s security in later life.

KEYWORDS:

• Women’s employment
• work-life balance policy
• family policies
• gender inequality
• life course

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study is supported by the Richard S. and T. Rose Takasaki Endowment Fund.