their careers, and those who continue to work even after they get married and/or have children (Graphic 61).

In particular, looking at the relationship between the women who get married/have children and women who continue to work, we can see that there is a different trend between women who resign to marry and women who resign to have a child. If we look at the employment situation of a married woman before and after her marriage, the percentage of women who continue to work even after getting married is around 60%, while the percentage of women who resign to marry has been dropping, from 37.3% during 1985-1989 to 25.6% during 2005-2009 (Graphic 62). On the other hand, if we look at the employment situation of a married woman before and after having a child, because the percentage of women who work before getting pregnant has increased, the percentage of women who resign to have a child has grown from 37.4% between 1985-1989 to 43.9% between 2005-2009, but the percentage of women who continue to work after having a child has also increased from 24.0% to 26.8%, respectively (Graphic 63).

Changes in Employment of Women Before and After Marriage by Year of Marriage

(Note) 1 Survey conducted with couples where both parties are getting married for the first time.

2 Aggregate total of couples married less than 15 years from 11^{th}, 13^{th}, and 14^{th} Survey conducted (Object number: 10,764)

Source) Developed by the MLIT from: IPSS "Birth Trends Survey (Nation-wide Survey Regarding Marriage and Child Bearing) (Survey of Married Couples)"

Changes in Employment of Women Before and After Having the First Child Graphic 63

(Note) 1 Survey conducted with couples where both parties are getting married for the first time.

2 Aggregate total of couples married less than 15 years with a child over 1 year old, from 12 $ ^{th} $ to 14 $ ^{th} $ Survey conducted (Object number: 9,973)

Source) Developed by the MLIT from: IPSS "Birth Trends Survey (Nation-wide Survey Regarding Marriage and Child Bearing) (Survey of Married Couples)"

Furthermore, to analyse more closely, we will narrow down the demographic to women who were already working before marriage or having a child to find the percentage of women who continued to work after marriage and/or children. Though the percentage of women who continued to work after getting married has risen from 60.3% between 1985-1989 to 70.5% between 2005-2009, the percentage of women who were working before getting pregnant and who continued to work after giving birth has stayed at 38-39%, without much variance over the last 30 years (However, the percentage of women who continued to work after having a child by using maternity leave is rising). This shows that it is still difficult for women to combine a career and raising children (Graphic 64).

Graphic 64

## (Increase in Non-regular Employment)

Percentages of Women who Continued to Work after Marriage/Having a Child

(Note) 1 Percentage of women that worked before marriage and/or when pregnant with her first child out of total of women who continued to work after getting married and/or having a child.

2 Figures within the () is the percentage of women who used maternity leave to continue working.

Source) Developed by the MLIT from: IPSS "Birth Trends Survey (Nation-wide Survey Regarding Marriage and Child Bearing) (Survey of Married Couples)"

Next, we will look at the changes in the type of

employment for women in age groups where the labor participation rate is rising on the M-curve; the 25-29 years old and 30-34 years old groups. If we compare the years 1987 and 2007, the employment rate is rising for both 25-29 years old and 30-34 years old age groups. However, if we divide the employment by type—"Permanent employee", "Part-time or