Living Arrangements in the Netherlands and Japan from a Life Course Perspective

Hideko Matsuo, Université Catholique de Louvain

This paper investigates the living arrangements of individual women in the Netherlands and Japan. It will be based on data from the Netherlands Fertility and Family Survey 1998 (OG98) and the Japanese National Fertility Survey 1992 (JNFS92). Use is made of the life course approach and multi-state life table techniques. Through defining the state space by making use of three domains of life [(1) living arrangement; (2) partnership; and (3) fertility], an average life course of a synthetical cohort of women will be constructed. Several assumptions and estimations will be made to determine the timing of state transitions. By referring to the study of Second Demographic Transition, we will assess whether the living arrangements of Japanese women are as complex as those of Dutch women and, if not exactly the same, what form future living arrangements are likely to take.