Non-Regular Female Workers in Japan’s Prolonged Economic Recession Evidence from the Japanese Panel Survey of Consumers

Abstract

Using the 1993-2014 Japanese Panel Survey of Consumers, this paper examined labour force participation and earnings of female workers with non-regular employment by birth cohort. The results confirmed that age and experience generally increased labour force participation of female workers with non-regular employment. Education and parents’ cohabitation with financial sharing reduced labour force participation of part-time female employees, while being married and having children increased it. The reverse results were evident for female employees with fixed-term employment. Estimates also showed that female workers with non-regular employment earnt less than those with regular employment; however, variations in wage differentials across generations were more prominent for female workers with fixed-term employment than those with part-time employment. The returns to education decreased as a cohort progressed, the experience premiums were apparent only for the young cohorts, and an age premium was nonexistent across generations among Japanese female workers.