Discussion Papers

Time-adjusted poverty among working households in Japan: Two-dimensional poverty line approach

DP Number DP-2014-005
Language 英語のみ
Date March, 2015
Author Kayoko ISHII, Kunio Urakawa
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Abstract

Time is a finite resource along with money, and it is essential to fulfilling the basic
needs of life. This research focuses on ‘time poor’ individuals in Japan, where people do
not have enough time to engage in child care and housework as well as leisure and other
activities. We defined income and time poverty thresholds and estimated the
time-adjusted income poverty by considering the situation where households fall into
income poverty by purchasing housework-related services in the market to compensate
for their time deficit. Based on the estimated results, we demonstrated that the
government needs to increase the policy support, especially for single-parents with
children and for double-income couples with children.