This project employs the panel research method to track the same individuals over multiple periods of time. Cohort A consists of a group of young women aged between 24 and 34 who were selected from across Japan in 1993 for an in-home questionnaire survey. Cohort B, consisting of women aged between 24 and 27, cohort C, consisting of women aged between 24 and 29, and cohort D, consisting of women aged between 24 and 28, were added respectively in 1997, 2003 and 2008. The relatively high response rate of this annual survey has overcome the inherent disadvantages of a panel survey.
This study examining the lifestyles of young women takes a looks at a wide spectrum of factors including income, expenditures, savings, work patterns and family relationships. We have designed, implemented and analyzed this research project with a focus on changing lifestyles. Many of the young women selected as participants in the study are at an age where their similar lifestyle path has branched off. Some may experience significant changes in their family life as they go from graduating school to getting a job, getting married and having children, while others may remain single. The objective of this study is to identify various factors and problems associated with these changes and differences in the lifestyles of the study participants. Such changes and differences include age differences and changes that occur at major turning points in their lives. We will then use the research findings as a basis for formulating appropriate recommendations that will be relevant to people's lives.
Wave 16 Questionnaire (2008)
Wave 15 Questionnaire (2007)
Wave 14 Questionnaire (2006)
Wave 13 Questionnaire (2005)
Wave 12 Questionnaire (2004)
Wave 11 Questionnaire (2003)
*Questionnaires for Wave 1 through Wave 10 are attached to the respective year's reports.
Institute for Research on Household Economics
Yoshio Ezaki, Executive Director, Institute for Research on Household Economics
Shingo Kukimoto, Associate Research Fellow, Institute for Research on Household Economics
Naofumi Sakaguchi, Associate Research Fellow, Institute for Research on Household Economics
Kazuyasu Sakamoto, Research Fellow , Institute for Research on Household Economics
Keiko Tanaka, Research Fellow, Institute for Research on Household Economics
Project Manager
Yoshio Higuchi, Professor, Keio University
Assistant Project Manager
Masami Iwata, Professor, Japan Women's University
(In alphabetical order)
Masahiro Abe, Associate Professor, Dokkyo University
Yasuhiko Baba, Professor, Meisei University
Koji Hamada, Deputy Director, Research Institute of the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training
Chizuka Hamamoto, Associate Professor, Daito Bunka University
Charles Yuji Horioka, Professor, Osaka University
Takuo Irokawa, Associate Professor, Shizuoka University
Miki Kohara, Associate Professor, Osaka University
Akane Murakami, Associate Professor, St. Andrew's University
Akiko Nagai, Associate Professor, Japan Women's University
Masaaki Noda, Professor, Kwansei Gakuin University
Tomohiko Sato, Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
Junko Shigekawa, Professor, Saitama University
(Above titles and affiliations are as of April 2010.)