PATRICK DEVAHASTIN
WORKING PAPERS
Traditional Gender Roles Persist: The Impact of Remote Work on Household Dynamics Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan
Patrick Devahastin, Chayanee Chawanote
Despite the increase in female labour participation following "Abenomics," traditional gender roles persist in Japanese households, contributing to a significant disparity in housework. This study investigates the impact of remote work on household time allocation amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Utilizing panel data from Osaka University's Preference Parameter Study, we analyse double-income households from 2018 and 2021 to 2023. Our findings indicate that before the pandemic, teleworking husbands spent more time on both market and non-market work compared to their non-teleworking counterparts. However, this trend reversed post-pandemic, with teleworking husbands reducing their time spent on both types of work. This shift may be attributed to the unpreparedness of both employers and employees for the sudden transition to remote work, as well as challenges related to workers' adaptability to new technologies. Our study underscores the persistent influence of traditional gender roles and highlights the need for supportive policies to address these disparities.
Loneliness among workers in Japan during the pandemic
Pattaphol Yuktadatta, Sayaka Fukuda, Mostafa Saidur Rahim Khan, Yoshihiko Kadoya
Inexpensive wages and a high-stress environment may lead to a prevalence of loneliness among workers in Japan. In contrast, the changing working conditions and socioeconomic factors during the pandemic may contribute to post-pandemic loneliness. As a result, we studied associations between loneliness and various types of work and employment status among workers in Japan while also considering the timeline of the pandemic. Utilising Hiroshima University’s annual panel survey, we also tracked workers’ movement in the labour market from February 2020, before the reclassification of the spread of COVID-19 from an epidemic to a pandemic, until February 2022, almost two years after the pandemic.