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Divorce in contemporary Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Hiroshi Fukurai  and
Jon Alston
Hiroshi Fukurai
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA
Jon Alston
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA
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Summary

Data from the 1985–86 Japanese census are analysed to explore the determinants of the divorce rates in Japan's forty-seven prefectures, using two theoretical models: (a) the social integration model, which is shown to have a greater utility in predicting Japanese divorce levels than (b), the human capital model. Female emigration patterns play a significant role in affecting the divorce rate. Population increase and net household income are also important predictors of the Japanese divorce rate and urbanization has a great influence in modern Japan. Demographic and aggregate variables such as migration, urbanization, and socioeconomic factors are useful when organized under a social integration model.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , October 1990 , pp. 453 - 464
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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