The Impact of Age Difference on the Life Satisfaction of Wives in Specialized and Nonspecialized Households in Japan / Yaş Farkının Japonya’daki Uzmanlaşmış ve Uzmanlaşmamış Hanehalklarındaki Evli Kadınların Hayat Memnuniyetine Etkisi

Bu çalışma, Keio Üniversitesi’nin 2005-2018 yılları arasındaki panel verilerini kullanarak yaş farkının Japonya’daki evli kadınların hayat memnuniyetine etkisini ve yaş farkının evlilik süresince kadınların hayat memnuniyetini nasıl etkilediğini inceler. Uzmanlaşma teorisi göz önünde bulundurularak bu etki evli kadınların çalışma durumlarına göre de test edilmiştir. Havuzlanmış en küçük kareler metodu sonuçları kendinden genç bir eşle evli olan kadınların haπyattan memnun olduğunu gösterirken kendinden yaşça büyük eşle evli kadınlar için anlamlı bir sonuç bulunamamıştır. Diğer taraftan sabit etkiler modeli sonuçları kendinden büyük eşle evli kadınların zaman içerisinde hayat memnuniyetinin arttığını gösterirken kendinden küçük eşle evli kadınların hayat memnuniyeti için anlamlı sonuç bulunamamıştır. Sonuçlar aynı zamanda uzmanlaşmış hanehalkını temsil eden ev hanımı kadınların hayat memnuniyetinin arttığını gösterirken uzmanlaşmamış hanehalkını temsil eden çalışan kadınlar için anlamlı sonuç bulunamamıştır. Buna ek olarak alternatif tanımlar kullanılsa bile kendinden büyük eşle evli ev hanımlarının evlilik süresince hayat memnuniyetleri arttığı ve her zaman anlamlı olduğu bulunmuştur.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Marriage, life satisfaction, age difference, Japan

The Impact of Age Difference on the Life Satisfaction of Wives in Specialized and Nonspecialized Households in Japan / Yaş Farkının Japonya’daki Uzmanlaşmış ve Uzmanlaşmamış Hanehalklarındaki Evli Kadınların Hayat Memnuniyetine Etkisi

Using panel data from the Keio Household Panel Survey (KHPS) between 2005 and 2018, this study examines the impact of age difference on wives' life satisfaction in Japan and how age difference affects wives' life satisfaction over the duration of marriage. Considering the specialization theory, the effect of age gap over time is also tested by dividing the sample by wives' employment status. The results of the pooled OLS estimation show that wives married to younger men are satisfied with their lives, while no significant finding is observed for wives married to older men. On the other hand, the fixed effects estimation findings reveal that life satisfaction of wives married to older men increases with years of marriage, while there is no significant finding for wives married to younger men. The results also show that housewives representing specialized households are more satisfied over time, while there are no significant results for working wives representing nonspecialized households. It is also shown that the life satisfaction of housewives married to older men increases as the length of the marriage increases and is always significant, even when alternative specification is used.

Keywords:

Marriage, life satisfaction, age difference, Japan,

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