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Bridal Pregnancy and Spouse Pairing Patterns in Japan
Author(s) -
Raymo James M.,
Iwasawa Miho
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00531.x
Subject(s) - pregnancy , pairing , fertility , spouse , context (archaeology) , multinomial logistic regression , demography , logistic regression , psychology , medicine , sociology , population , statistics , geography , physics , biology , mathematics , genetics , superconductivity , archaeology , anthropology , quantum mechanics
In this paper, we examine two aspects of recent increases in marriage preceded by pregnancy (bridal pregnancy) in Japan. Using information on 28,973 respondents to the Japanese National Fertility Surveys, we first demonstrate that increases in bridal pregnancy between 1970 and 2002 were concentrated among women without postsecondary education. We then estimate multinomial logistic regression models to evaluate change over time in the association between bridal pregnancy and patterns of educational pairing. Results indicate that bridal pregnancy is associated with a significantly higher likelihood of nonnormative educational pairing and that this relationship has become more pronounced over time. We conclude by evaluating these results in comparative context and speculating about the implications for subsequent family change in Japan.