Discussion Paper Series

University of Tokyo

Institute of Social Science
Panel Survey
東京大学社会科学研究所 パネル調査プロジェクト
ディスカッションペーパーシリーズ

The Gendered Effects of Marriage on Health:
Evidence from JapanEmi Tamaki（College of Social Sciences, Ritsumeikan University）

March 2014
No.74

INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

東京大学社会科学研究所
UNIVERSITY OF TOKYOInstitute of Social Sciences
University of Tokyo
Panel Survey Project Discussion Paper Series No. 74
March, 2014

The Gendered Effects of Marriage on Health: Evidence from JapanEmi Tamaki(College of Social Sciences, Ritsumeikan University)

This research was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S) (number
18103003 and 22223005) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and
Health Labour Sciences Research Grant (Research on Policy Planning and Evaluation)(number H16-Seisaku-018) from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The researchsupport in conducting the panel surveys from the Institute of Social Science, University ofTokyo, and OUTSOURCING, Inc. is gratefully acknowledged. The permission to use thepanel data is obtained from the Research Planning Committee of the Japanese Life Course
Panel Surveys. This paper is based on Tamaki, Emi. "The Gendered Effects of Marriage on
Health in Japan: Structure, Role Expectations, and Outcomes." Order No. 3588865 Universityof Washington, 2013. Ann Arbor: ProQuest.

Gendered Effects of Marriage on Health: Structure and Role Expectations
Emi Tamaki(Ritsumeikan University)

Abstract
One of the most robust findings in health literature is the association between marital
status and health. A growing body of research in the United States has shown that married
individuals are healthier than their single counterparts. The gender difference in the healthbenefit of marriage, however, is still in debate. While some argue that marriage is more
important for men’s health than women’s, others find no gender difference in the positiveeffect of marriage. This paper uses the first wave of the Japanese Life Course Panel Survey(JLPS 2007), a nationally representative sample of Japanese men and women aged 20 to 40,
to test hypotheses regarding the relationship among gender, marriage, and health. Taken
together, results show that the gendered relationship between marriage and health is morenuanced than previous literature suggested. While marriage is generally associated with
better health for both men and women, the magnitude of the association is larger for womenthan for men in Japan. Furthermore, this paper finds gender differences in the structural
mechanisms linking marriage and health, and in the impact of combining different genderroles on health: being out of the labor force partially explains the health benefit of marriage
for women but not for men; and combining marriage and employment reduces women’s
health but not men’s.

1.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Marriage is widely regarded as one of the most important social relations. Its impact on
individuals’ health, in particular, has recently received a growing attention both in public andin academia (Parker-Pope 2010; Saslow 2011; Waite and Gallagher 2000). A vast body ofresearch finds that being married, relative to being single, has a positive and direct impact on
general health status (Koball et al. 2010; Williams and Umberson, 2004), longevity (Lillard
and Waite 1995; Schoenborn 2004), mental health (Marks and Lambert 1998), and various
health conditions, including arthritis, hypertension, and heart disease (Lorenz et al. 2006;
Prigerson, Maciejewski, and Rosenheck 2000; Zhang and Hayward 2006). The healthbenefit of marriage is largely explained by three structural mechanisms: greater economic
resources, social integration and support, and the regulation of health behaviors conferred bymarriage (Ross, Mirowsky and Goldsteen 1990).
Although selection of healthier
individuals into marriage cannot be entirely ruled out, panel studies that followed same
individuals over time confirm the positive influence of marriage on health for both womenand men (Wood, Goesling, and Avellar 2007; Wilson and Oswald. 2005).
While the positive effect of marriage on health is consistent and strong, the debate remains as
to the gender difference in the magnitude of health benefit of marriage (Carr and Springer
2010; Kiecolt-Glaser and Newton 2001). Since the early 1970s, classical gender-role
theorists have emphasized that marriage provides greater health benefits to husbands than to
wives, because women’s roles are more demanding than men’s and they are more likely toexperience conflicts when they enter labor force (Bernard 1972; Gove and Tudor 1973).
Recent examination of this claim, however, finds conflicting results (Waite and Gallagher
2000). Some studies argue that changes in gender ideology have eased the burden of
combining work and family for women and that having multiple roles can be beneficial toboth sexes, by providing greater self-esteem, prestige, wealth and social support (Barnett andHyde 2001). Other studies also suggest that men and women benefit equally from marriage
but through different aspects: men gain better health status through social support andregulation of health behaviors while women improve their health through increased economic
resources (Waite and Gallagher 2000). Another line of research emphasizes genderedsocialization in expressing distress where women are socialized to develop emotional
attachment and encouraged to internalize their distress (Simon 2002). Because past research
only focused on psychological disorders, it is argued that researchers have overestimated themental problems of women and neglected the problems typical of men (Aneshensel et. al.
1991). These developments in literature suggest that social and cultural contexts
surrounding marriage play an important role in understanding how marriage affects men andwomen’s health.
1

Despite the increasing popularity and debates on the topic, little has been known about thegendered relationship between marriage and health outside the United States and Western
European countries. Japan is one of the first non-western countries to experience economic
development, and yet maintained traditional gender norms (Cabinet Office 2010, Ministry ofInternal Affairs and Communications 2012). By using Japan as a case, this paper aims totest the robustness of the marriage benefit hypothesis and its gender variations.
Marriage in Japan
Contemporary marriage in Japan has been characterized by the rigid gendered division of laborand women’s close identification with motherhood (Brinton 1993, Takeda 2005). While men
work as a “family wage” earner for the entire family, women are often expected to become
nurturers of their husband and children upon marriage (Brinton 1993). For women, marriage,
childbearing, childrearing, and care for the elderly are often linked together as a marriage“package” that is viewed as a life-long commitment (Rindfuss et al. 2004). I argue below thatthese features of Japanese marriage expose men and women to different work and family
experiences, which in turn, leads to different health consequences.
Traditional gender roles often shape Japanese men and women’s everyday lives. Men’s lives
tend to be centered on work, due to their strong commitment to their company and overtime
work which are often times part of the life-time employment contract in Japan (Ogasawara
1998). According to Cabinet Office (2011), about 23% of Japanese employed men in their
30s reports working more than 60 hours per week. Comparison of the Japanese and U.S.
time-use surveys administered in 2001 further indicates that after adjusting for demographic
compositions, Japanese full-time male workers spend on average 57 hours per week on paid
work and commuting, whereas in the U.S., the average work hours, including commute timewas 47 hours among male full-time workers (Kuroda 2010).
Demands from work make Japanese husbands spend less time with family. Data collected in2009 show that on average, married women spend 27 hours per week on household tasks while
husbands spent only 3 hours on house work (Tsuya et.al. 2012). This number is striking whencompared to the U.S. where married men and women spend 10 and 19 hours a week
respectively on housework in 2000 (Bianchi, Robinson, and Milkie 2006). Japanese married
men’s lack of involvement in family, thus, may reduce their opportunity to benefit frommarriage in Japan.
A lack of flexibility and long hours of work also make it difficult for married women,
especially those with children, to remain in the labor force. In contrast to men, women are
more likely to reduce their work hours or to exit the labor market altogether upon marriage(Brinton 2001). According to the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare’s longitudinal2

surveys, 28% of women who married between 2002 and 2008 terminated their job, while
only 1% of newly-married men left their job. Among the continuously-single individuals
from 2002 to 2008, only 3.2% and 2.9% of women and men left their jobs, respectively(Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare 2010a). Many scholars point out that Japanesebusiness practices and tax policies encourage married women to stay at home. Japanesecompanies have traditionally provided a family wage and welfare to their employees and theirdependents (Dore 1973). Even in 2010, about 65% of Japanese companies, and 75% ofcompanies with more than 299 employees, provided family allowances as part of the wage totheir (typically male) employees (Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare 2010b). Japaneseincome tax legislations also allow for spousal deductions if the spouse’s annual income isbelow the threshold of 1.35 million yen, that is, approximately $ 13,000 (Akabayashi 2006).
Because of its negative effect on married women’s decisions to (re-)enter the labor force, theelimination of the spousal deduction has been a key issue in political debates in recent years(The Yomiuri Shimbun 2012). Institutional support for the gendered division of labor,
therefore, is likely to pressure women to stay at home and make it difficult to maintain workand marriage roles.
Taken together, work hours can be another mechanism through which marriage influences
men and women’s health in Japan. Compared to other factors in the literature, such as
economic resources, social support, and health behaviors, work hours have received little
attention until now when investigating the gendered link between marriage and health. Yet,studies have shown associations between long periods of work time and increased stress aswell as stress-related diseases such as elevated blood pressure and heart rate, poor sleep quality
and subjective fatigue, and overall poor health behavior (Dahlgren, Kecklund, and Akerstedt
2006; Hayashi et al 1996; Nakamura et al. 1998; Shields 1999). Working long hours canprolong individual exposure to work-related stressors and decreases time for leisure activities,
family, and recuperation. (Kleiner and Pavalko 2010). Because Japanese women are more
likely to reduce their work hours upon marriage, women’s health is, on average, expected tobenefit from marriage through reduced work hours. Japanese men’s commitment to theirwork as a bread winner, however, is likely to increase their health problems and dilute theprotective effects of marriage.
Hypotheses
The following hypotheses summarize the relationship between marriage, gender, and healthfor the purpose of this study. H1 and H2 summarize the general relationship between
marriage, gender, and health in Japan. H3 though H5 are drawn from the structural
perspective of marriage and health and are based on findings in the United States. H6identifies Japanese contexts of marriage and health as they relate to work hours.
H1: Married individuals are, overall, healthier than single individuals in Japan.
3

H2: Health benefit of marriage is generally smaller for men than for women.
H3: Higher levels of economic resources mediate the positive association between marriage
and health especially for women.
H4: Presence of supportive networks mediates the positive association between marriage andhealth especially for men
H5: Healthy behavior mediates the association between marriage and health especially formen.
H6: Work hours mediate the association between marriage and health especially for men.
Turning to the gender role theory of marriage and health, the meaning of combining work andfamily is likely to be gendered in Japan. Because of the strong norm of gendered division oflabor, married women with employment are still responsible for the majority of houseworkand therefore they are likely to experience the "second shift" (Hochschild 1989; Tsuya et al.
2012). Unlike the contemporary United States, role conflict and work overload are likely
to take away the health benefit of occupying multiple roles for wives in Japan. Previous
research by Kawakami and others (2006), for example, shows that sleep deprivation is greater
for women with full time job and co-residing with parents. In contrast, it is expected thatmen’s health is unaffected by their employment, since men are culturally expected to be abreadwinner of the family.
H7: The combination of full-time employment and marriage reduces the health benefit ofmarriage for women but not for men.
3. DATA AND METHODSJapanese Life Course Panel Survey
Japanese Life Course Panel Survey (JLPS) collected data on work, family, health, education,
and attitudes in 2007 from a nationally representative household sample of adults aged 20 to
40 years (n=4800). This paper uses the first wave of JLPS which utilized a stratified
sampling of 20 to 34 year olds and 35 to 40 year olds who resided in Japan in November
2006 (Institute of Social Science 2011a, 2011b). A recruitment letter and a self-administeredquestionnaire were sent to the respondent in January 2007 and were later collected by a field
worker. The response rates were 34.5% for the 20-34 year old sample, and 40.4% for the
35-40 year old sample (Institute of Social Science 2011a, 2011b). Despite the relatively low
response rate of 31% (for total sample), JLPS data are generally representative of the national
population by age, gender, marital status, types of residential area, occupation, work hours,
and education (Miwa 2008).
Methods
Marriage Selection
4

Marriage selection hypothesis argues that healthier individuals are more likely to find amarriage partner because their favorable health characteristics make them a good candidate
for marriage (Fu and Goldman 1996; Lillard and Panis 1996). Since this study is based on
the cross-sectional data, I include a measure of past health status, a proxy for pre-marriage
health status, using the question that asked respondents whether they have experienced illness
or injury that required a long-term rest. It is important to note, however, that results may still
be overestimated since we do not have an exact measure of health prior to marriage.
Measuring Health
I use the following three measures to capture different aspects of health status.
Self-Rated Health: I use self-rated health as a measure of the general health condition forboth men and women. Self-rated health is a robust indicator of general health status thatpredicts morbidity and mortality (Ferraro and Yu 1995; Idler and Benyamini 1997). To
measure the general health status, the questionnaire asked "Would you say that in general
your health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?". Following other studies (e.g.
Frisbie, Cho, and Hummer, 2001; Lynch, 2003), the response categories were dichotomized
into good health (i.e. excellent, very good, and good) and poor health (fair and poor).
Studies have shown that a dichotomous response for self-rated health yields similar results toordinal logistic regression in its relationship with socioeconomic status (Manor, Matthews,
and Power, 2000) and depression (Schnittker 2005), and find no gender bias in reporting(Manor, Matthews, and Power, 2000). A series of binary logistic regressions are used toassess the associations between marriage, gender, and health.
Mental Health Inventory-5: To measure mental health issues that are considered to be moreprevalent for women than men, the 5–item mental health inventory, or MHI-5 (Yamazaki,
Fukuhara, and Green 2005), is used to measure depressive and anxiety disorders. MHI-5
uses 5 question items describing the emotions felt during the past 30 days. The items weretaken from the 36-item Medical Outcome Study (MOS) Short Form Health Survey
questionnaire in order to facilitate the administration of the survey (Ware and Sherbourne
1992, Rumpf et. al. 2001, Yamazaki, Fukuhara, and Green 2005). The respondents wereasked to indicate how often they experienced the following emotions in the past month,
ranging from "All of the time" to "Not at all": 1) have been a very nervous person; 2) felt
calm and peaceful; 3) felt downhearted and blue; 4) have been a happy person; and 5) felt sodown that nothing could cheer you up. A sum score ranges from 5 to 30 which wastransformed so that the new scale ranges 0 to 100 and high scores indicate good mental health.
Since the histogram in Figure 3 shows that the distribution of MHI-5 approximates a normal
curve, OLS regression analysis is used to assess the extent of relationship between marriage,
gender, and mental health.
5Sobriety: I use sobriety as an indicator of good mental health particularly for men.
Extensive evidence shows that heavy drinking is associated with mental health issues(Kessler et al. 1997, Jane-Llopis and Matytsina 2006). Individuals with negative moodoften consume alcohol to cope with the effect of stress and relieve tension, and theassociation is particularly strong for men (Nolen-Hoeksema and Harrell 2002;
Nolen-Hoeksema and Hilt 2006; Armeli et al. 2000; Cooper et al. 1992). The JLPS includes
a question on alcohol consumption – frequency of drinking. Respondents were asked toindicate their frequency of drinking from the following categories: 1) cannot drink alcohol, 2)
quit drinking, 3) only on special occasions, 4) 2-3 times per month, 5) 1-2 days per week, 6)
3-4 days per week, 7) 5-6 times per week, and 8) every day. Those who drink more than 5times a week are considered a frequent drinker with high distress, while those who drink lessthan 5 times a week are considered sober. Figure 4 shows the distribution of drinking
frequency. Binary logistic regression is used to assess the effect of marriage on sobriety formen and women.
Independent Variables
The following independent variables will be included in the model to predict self-rated health,mental health, and drinking. I operationalize marital status as three dummy variables
representing currently-married, never-married (a reference category), and separated, widowed,
or divorced. As a measure of economic resources, I use the annual household income perfamily member. Respondents were asked to indicate the annual household income from 13
categories ranging from zero to more than 22.5 million yen (equivalent of 220,000 U.S.
dollars). I divided the household income by the number of persons living in the household.
When the household income was missing, I replaced it with the sum of self and spousal
incomes. A lack of supportive network was used to measure the absence of social
integration and support that may explain the health benefit of marriage (Umberson et al.
1996). Those who answered that they have nobody to rely on when it comes to either work,
study, personal relationships, or financial emergency were coded as 1. I also use the amountof smoking to measure the degree of healthy behaviors which may explain the link between
marriage and better health (Umberson 1992). Smoking more than 10 cigarettes per day isconsidered to be an unhealthy behavior. For work hours, I create the following 5 categories:
1) zero hour including those without employment and out of labor force, 2) 1 to 35 hours per
week, 3) 36 to 49 hours, 4) 50 to 59 hours, and 5) 60+ hours.
I also include other important variables that are likely to influence health, i.e. age (House,
Kessler, and Herzog 1990), educational attainment, and employment status (Mirowsky, Rossand Reynolds 2000). For education, three categories were created: 1) high school or less,vocational school or two-year college which often provides professional skills for women, and3) college or above. In addition, the presence of dependents under age 18 will be included to6

control for the characteristics of households: being married without young children in thehome is considered to be most beneficial to one's health in the U.S. (Schoenborn 2004;
Umberson and Williams 1999).
Furthermore, I include the co-residence with parents as an important control for the link
between marriage, social support, and health in Japan. Unlike the U.S. and some of theEuropean countries, it is common and accepted for single young adults, especially daughters,
to reside with their parents in Japan. According to Raymo (2003), approximately
three-quarters of single women in Japan live with their parents, because the co-residence withparents often involves higher disposable income and less household tasks. Mothers arelikely to take care of the health of their single children by preparing meals and conducting
household chores. By living with their own family, single individuals are likely to be
integrated to their family network with social support. Therefore co-residence with aparent(s) is also included to properly assess the mediating effect of social support between
marriage and health. Those who co-reside with his/her parent(s) is coded as 1.
4. RESULTS
Table 1 shows the percentage distributions and means of independent variables stratified bygender and marital status. The table indicates that those who are divorced or widowed are
more likely to report worse self-rated and mental health, and are more likely to be frequent
drinkers. Currently-married respondents, on the other hand, are slightly more likely to reportbetter health.
Table 2 and 3 show the effect of marital status on three measures of health, net of economic
resources, social support, health behaviors and other socio-demographic variables. Table 2
includes all sample in order to examine the gender difference in the effect of marriage on health.
Models 1 include all variables without the interaction term between gender and marital status.
Models 2 include the interaction term to assess whether the effect of marriage differs by gender.
Table 3 divides the sample into men and women to further explore the relationship between
marriage and health by gender.
Overall, the analysis which uses self-rated health as a dependent variable finds that the healthbenefit of marriage is greater for women than for men (Model 2 in Table 2). The interaction
term between gender and marriage indicates that being female and currently marriedsignificantly increases the odds of reporting good health. The separate analyses for men andwomen in Table 3 further indicate gender differences in how marriage affects general health.
For men, marital status is largely independent of men’s self-rated health. More specifically,
married men’s health advantage is weak and disappears when unemployment and work hours
7are controlled (results not shown). In contrast, married women’s health advantage is strong
and independent of other covariates. This finding contradicts earlier literature that claimed
the negative health influence of marriage for American women.
The analysis on the 5-item Mental Health Inventory finds that both men and women benefit
from marriage. The interaction term between gender and marriage shows that there is no
gender difference in the positive effect of marriage on MHI-5 (Model 2 in Table 2). The
analyses in Table 3, however, show that work is positively associated with men’s mental
well-being, but not with women’s. Furthermore, being out of labor force is positively related
to women’s mental health, suggesting that a full-time housewife is less likely to be affected by
the harmful effect of employment.
The analysis on sobriety finds that compared to currently-married and never-married
individuals, divorced/widowed individuals are more likely to be frequent drinkers (Model 1 inTable 2). Separate analysis by gender, however, indicates that the association between
marriage and drinking differs greatly by gender. Although the relationships are not significant,results in Table 3 show that married women are less likely to drink than their never-marriedcounterparts while married men are more likely to drink than the never-married men. For both
men and women, employment is associated with frequent drinking, suggesting the culturalcontext of drinking in the Japanese work environment. As shown in Table 1, women are muchless likely to drink than men to begin with, but their exposure to men’s work culture (throughemployment) seems to increase the odds of frequent drinking.
To test whether combining multiple roles influences health for men and women, I introduced
different sets of role combinations to full models and plotted predicted values by gender,
marital status, the presence of a child, and employment (Figures 5,6, and 7). Predictedprobabilities and scores are calculated with other covariates – past health status, age,education, co-residence with parent(s), presence of a child, employment, income, social
support, and smoking – set at means.
Figure 5 shows that compared to single women, married women, on average, have higher
probabilities of reporting good health. However, adding employment to marriage and tomotherhood does not appear to improve women’s health. For men, marriage in general does
not affect men’s self-rated health. In contrast to women, the combination of marriage and alack of employment seems to reduce men’s health. The confidence intervals for these
individuals are, however, quite large since few married men are unemployed or out of labor
force. Taken together, multiple roles do not seem to improve women’s health whenfull-time employment is combined with marriage or child rearing. Men’s health, however,appears to improve by combining multiple roles, although the statistical significance is small.
8

Predicted mental health scores in Figure 6 show that marriage generally increases women’s
mental well-being. Combining marriage and employment, however, decreases the mental
health score of married women with child(ren), suggesting the negative psychologicalconsequence of role combination for women. In contrast, men’s employment is associatedwith better mental health regardless of marital status and the presence of a child. Although
the 95% confidence interval is wide for married men without employment, the predictedscores suggest that there is no mental health “penalty” in being employed for married men.
Figure 7 plots predicted probabilities of sobriety by gender, marital status, and employment
status. Among the never-married and currently-married individuals, employment lowers thepropensity of sobriety for both men and women. In particular, married men with
employment are more likely to drink than the never-married men with employment, net ofother covariates.
It is possible that married men are more likely to hold a position in theworkplace that requires involvement in after work hours drinking.
In contrast to the joint effect of employment and marriage on drinking, employment is related
to a higher propensity of sobriety for widowed and divorced men and women. This is due tothe fact that divorced and widowed individuals are on average much more likely to drink thantheir single and currently-married counterparts. Unemployment may be a source of stresswhen combined with separation from a spouse. In general, the results do not seem tosupport the role conflict hypothesis for women, since employment reduces the likelihood ofsobriety regardless of gender and whether the respondents are never-married or
currently-married.
5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
The results of this paper generally suggest that classical gender-role theories may haveover-emphasized the negative aspect of marriage for women’s health. While combining
marriage and work does worsen women’s health, marriage itself was found to be associatedwith better health for women. In a society where most women are expected to terminate
their career upon marriage and childbearing, being a housewife may protect women fromstressful work environments and provide for a self-identity that supports their mental health.
Classical gender theories may need to incorporate the idea that women can be flexible in theface of rigid gender norms and may re-structure their lives in order to meet gender
expectations. By doing so, women may trade in their work-family balance for better health.
The analyses on mental health, in particular, illustrated this complex relationship. Although
the mental health benefit of marriage was similar in magnitude for men and women, it was
revealed that structural mechanisms (mainly work hours) and role meanings are quite9different by gender.
Furthermore, American literature on marriage and health may have over-emphasized theexclusive nature of marriage in influencing health-related factors, especially for men.
Japanese men’s lives tend to be embedded in work which often times provides social support
and an influence on health behaviors. The analyses on self-rated health highlighted therelatively separate spheres of men and women’s lives in which marriage for men did not
impact their health nor structural mechanisms that supposedly mediate the positive effect ofmarriage on health. Instead of treating marriage as a powerful social construct thatindependently alters health-related behaviors, future studies may need to explore theconditions under which marriage influences health for men and women. The effect ofmarriage on health is likely to depend upon cultural contexts and upon how men and womenare embedded in other important social relationships.
Research on the gendered outcomes of mental distress may also need to take into account thecultural contingency of male- and female- types of distress. The results on drinking shedsome light on how men’s strong identification with work may affect their frequent drinking.
Again, more attention to different gender, family, and work experience is needed in choosing
the appropriate measure.
The limitations of this study provide opportunities for future studies. The cross-sectional
design of the current dataset makes it difficult to rule out the possibility that individuals with
better physical and mental health are more likely to enter into and stay in marriage.
Although this study controls for past health status, the results are likely to overestimate theeffects of marriage on health. Data which include health status prior to marriage in a panel
design would be better suited to examine the causality of marriage on health.

10

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16

Figure1. Conceptual Model of Marriage and Health in Japan

Figure 2.1. Conceptual Model of Marriage and Health

Economic Resources
Social Support
Marriage

HealthHealth Behaviors
Work Hours

Figure 2. Distribution of Self-Rated Health: JLPS 2007

50

Percent

10

Figure 3. Histogram of 5-Item Mental Health Inventory: JLPS 2007

0

20

40
60
MHI-5 Scale

80

17

100

Figure 4. Distribution of Drinking Frequency: JLPS 2007

Table 1. Percent Distributions and Means of Respondent Characteristics by Gender and Marital
Status: JLPS 2007
Table 3.1. Percent distributions and means of respondent characteristics by gender and marital status: JLPS 2007
Total Sample
FemaleMale(N=4,775)
NeverCurrentlyDivorced/
NeverCurrentlymarried
marriedWidowedmarriedmarriedVariable N%(n=1,109) (n=1,222)(n=104)(n=1,273) (n=1,033)
Mean Age (s.d.)31 (6)
27
34
34
28
34
With One or More Children 1955
40
0
84
66
0
81
Co-Residence with Own Parent(s) 2135
45
80
7
50
75
13
Education
High school or less 1452
30
20
36
40
28
37
Vocational school, 2-year college 1548
33
41
46
45
20
21
College or above 1762
37
39
18
14
52
42
Employment
Unemployed 208
4
4
7
6
5
1
Employed 2332
76
78
56
92
74
98
Out of Labor Force 922
19
18
37
3
21
1

Divorced/
Widowed(n=59)
34
57
53
49
24
27
7
92
2

Household Income (in mil. JP yen) 5.31 (3.97)
No Social Support 2000
42
11 or More Cigarettes per Day 1015
21
36 (23)
Average Work Hours per Week

4.72
41
7
36

5.80
39
9
18

3.67
48
30
36

4.80
46
29
39

6.12
39
40
53

5.21
47
53
48

Past Illness/Injury 1007
21
3.5 (.9)
Self-Rated Health (5=excellent, 1=poor)
63 (18)5-Item Mental Health Inventory
Drink 5+ Times a Week 751 16
Note: 1 million Japanese yen is approximately 10,782 U.S. dollars

18
3.5
61
6

23
3.6
65
12

20
3.4
59
18

20
3.5
62
12

22
3.5
66
33

37
3.3
58
47

18

Table 2. Marriage,Table
Gender,and Three Measures of Health: All Sample (JLPS 2007)
2. Marriage, Gender, and Three Measures of Health: All sample
Good Self-Rated Health(1=Excellent/VeryGood/G
ood Health, 0=Fair/Poor)

Better Mental Health(Range:1-100)

Sobriety (1=Drink lessthan 5 days/wk, 0=Drink
5+ days/wk )Model1
Odds
Ratio pModel2
Odds
Ratio pModel1Reg.
Coef. pModel2Reg.
Coef. pModel1
Odds
Ratio pModel2
Odds
Ratio pFemaleMarital Status
Never-Married
Currently-Married
Widowed/Divorced

1.20 †

0.98-0.93 †

-1.11

2.90 ***

2.02 ***

Ref
1.45 *
0.92

Ref
1.16
0.98

Ref
4.15 ***-0.93

Ref
4.09 **
-3.01

Ref
0.90
0.46 ***

Ref
0.77
0.37 **

Past Health0.39 ***

0.39 ***-4.02 ***

-3.99 ***

0.99

0.99

Age
Education
High school or less
Vocational school, 2-year college
College or above

0.98 *

0.98 *

-0.09

-0.09

0.94 ***

0.93 ***

Ref
0.90
1.14

Ref
0.90
1.17

Ref
0.57
2.09 **

Ref
0.57
2.08 **

Ref
1.27 *
1.65 ***

Ref
1.28 *
1.68 ***

Coresidence with Own Parent(s)Child under Age 18
Interactions
Female * MarriedFemale * Widowed/Divorced
Hhld Income per Family Member.8 million JP yen or less.8-1.4 million JP yen
1.4-2.2 million JP yen
Mare than 2.2 million JP yen
Icome missing

1.25 †
1.50 *

1.27 †
1.49 *

-0.04
0.48

-0.01
0.47

1.38 **
0.69 *

1.40 **
0.69 *

Ref
1.13
0.98
1.30 *
0.83

Ref
1.12
0.97
1.28 †
0.82

Ref
0.48
1.38
2.96 ***
-1.85

Ref
0.49
1.41 †
3.01 ***-1.84

Ref
0.78 †
0.77 †
0.69 **
0.96

Ref
0.78 †
0.77 †
0.68 **
0.94

No Social Support
11 or More Cigarettes per Day
Employment
Out of labor force
Unemployed
Employed

0.62 ***
0.65 ***

0.62 ***
0.66 ***-3.79 ***

-3.79 ***

1.07

1.06

Ref
0.77
1.31 †

Ref
0.83
1.52 *

Ref-4.13 **
-1.63 †

Ref
-4.13 **
-1.63 †

Ref
0.94
0.60 **

Ref
1.00
0.68 *

3190
4672

3187
4672

39679
4615

39682
4615

3674
4687

3670
4687

AIC
N
† p<.1,* p<.05,** p<.01,

1.74 **
0.96*** p<.001 (two-tailed test)

19

0.18
3.39

1.76 **
1.81

Table 3. Marital Status and Health: Separate Analyses by Gender (JLPS 2007)

Table 3. Marriage and Three Measures of Health by Gender:JLPS (2007)
SRH
Mental Health
Sobriety
FemaleMale
FemaleMale
Female
Male
OR p
OR p
Coef pCoef p
OR p
OR p
Marital Status
Never-Married
Ref
Ref
Ref
Ref
Ref
Ref
Currently-Married 2.07*
1.15
3.75 *
3.83 *
1.64
0.72
Widowed/Divorced 1.01
0.95
0.79
-3.13
0.78
0.36 **
Past Health Status 0.36***

0.42***-4.14 ***

-3.87 ***

0.98

0.98

0.98

-0.06

-0.10

0.94 ***

0.94 ***

Ref
0.71
0.90

Ref
1.23
2.73 *

Ref
-0.34
1.44

Ref
1.23
1.85 **

Ref
1.36 *
1.65 ***

1.41†
1.80*

1.08
1.26

-0.19
-0.30

-0.20
1.08

1.43 †
0.56 *

1.39 *
0.74

Ref
1.22
0.94
1.19
0.62

Ref
1.06
1.05
1.33
1.08

Ref
1.48
1.54
3.77 **
-2.00

Ref
-0.46
1.46
2.58 *
-1.55

Ref
0.80
0.87
0.75
2.33 †

Ref
0.76
0.72 †
0.65 *
0.63 †No Social Support 0.60***
11+ Cigarettes per Day 0.51**

0.60***
0.75*-4.49 ***

-3.27 ***

1.16

1.01

Ref
1.15
3.12**
2.84***
3.10***
1.60†
3.15**

Ref-3.18 †
-2.05 †
-2.30 *
-2.45
-9.17 ***
-4.58 *

4.14
Ref
6.40 **
6.68 **
6.22 **
1.39
3.90

Ref
1.10
0.73
0.69
0.52 *
0.94
0.64

Ref
0.65
0.51
0.46
0.46
0.42 †
0.53

1692
2304

20198
2343

19463
2272

1444
2377

2255
2310

Age 0.97*
Education
High school or less
Ref
Vocational school, 2-year college 1.12
College or above 1.66*
Coresidence with Own Parent(s)Child under Age 18
Hhld Income per Family Member.8 million JP yen or less.8-1.4 million JP yen
1.4-2.2 million JP yen
Mare than 2.2 million JP yen
Missing

Ave. Work Hours per Week
Out of labor force
Unemployed
1-35 hours
36-49 hours
50-59 hours
60+ hours
Missing
AIC
N† p<.1,* p<.05,** p<.01,

Ref
1.02
1.18
1.60
1.43
1.01
1.09
1503
2382

*** p<.001 (two-tailed test)

20

Figure 5. Predicted Probabilities and 95% CI of Self-Rated Health by Gender, Marital Status,
Child, and Employment: JLPS 2007
1.00

0.95

0.90

Predicted Prob (Good Health)

0.85

0.80

0.75

0.70

0.65

0.60

0.55

0.50
Unemplyd/ Full-time Unemplyd/ Full-time Unemplyd/ Full-time Unemplyd/ Full-time Unemplyd/ Full-time Unemplyd/ Full-time
Out of LF emplymnt Out of LF emplymnt Out of LF emplymnt Out of LF emplymnt Out of LF emplymnt Out of LF emplymnt
SingleMarried No Child

Married with Child

SingleWomen

Married No Child

Married with Child

Men

Figure 6. Predicted Mental Health Scores and 95% CI by Gender, Marital Status, Child, andEmployment: JLPS 200775

70

Predicted Scores (MHI-5)

65

60

55

50

45

40
Unemplyd/
Out of LF

EmplydSingleUnemplyd/
Out of LF

EmplydMarried No Child

Unemplyd/
Out of LF

EmplydMarried with Child

Women

Unemplyd/
Out of LF

EmplydSingleUnemplyd/
Out of LF

EmplydMarried No Child
Men

21

Unemplyd/
Out of LF

EmplydMarried with ChildFigure 7 Predicted Probabilities and 95% CI of Sobriety by Gender, Marital Status, andEmployment: JLPS 2007
1.00

0.90

Predicted Prob (Sobriety)

0.80

0.70

0.60

0.50

0.40

0.30
Unemplyd/
Out of LF

EmplydNever-married

Unemplyd/
Out of LF

EmplydCurrently-married

Unemplyd/
Out of LF

EmplydWid/Div

Women

Unemplyd/
Out of LF

EmplydNever-married

Unemplyd/
Out of LF

EmplydCurrently-married

Men

22

Unemplyd/
Out of LF

EmplydWid/Div

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