Enjoying freedom or priced out of parenthood? : Attitudes to childlessness on Japanese Internet forums

Abstract: Declining birth rate in Japan has been acknowledged as a demographic crisis since the 1970s. Higher education and better jobs has given women freedom and alternatives to starting a family, and some say the value of marriage and children has decreased overall. This study explored attitudes towards childlessness on Japanese Internet forums in order to understand why Japan, a country with continually persistent and conservative gender roles, can experience such a drastic population decline. Especially since this phenomenon seems paradoxical in relation to women’s traditional roles in society. This paper has explored how people spoke about childlessness and two major discourses emerged. The attitudes were categorized into a modern versus a traditional discourse on childlessness. Money, conservative gender roles and relationships were identified as important reasons affecting the decision to have children or not. However, only money seemed as a rationale behind childlessness accepted in both discourses.