[steven]

This is based off of what I've seen, but I notice that regardless of whether or not a woman waits to get married, once they have a baby they usually take about a year off of work. Then they might choose not to keep their job. Then they get a part time job with hours that comply with raising a kid (so they don't start too early and don't end too late).

I mean, I don't live in a big city so I don't get to see the Japan that most people do, but that seems to be the way things go around here. Even if they have a very decent job, once they have a kid they are very likely to just quit and focus on their child.

However, that's not to say that is the rule. I've seen plenty of examples of women who are married/have kids and still work very hard. However, with less multi-generation families and the way taxes work, as far as I've heard it can been more economical to have a part time job when you have a kid than to have a full-blown day job. Also, even if your part time job salary gets past a certain amount then I've heard you don't qualify for certain tax benefits. So I've heard of situations where salaries are kept low to qualify for those breaks... otherwise a slight salary increase would actually mean less money.

Some other posters on here are more familiar with what I am talking about than I am so hopefully they can clear things up. I suspect that might have a little bit to do with what we are talking about though. At least it's something to think about.

As far as calling that inequality goes... I personally think that it balances out (although not entirely) to a nice degree. I'm a guy and not born in Japan though, so take that as you will. If you have the ability ask some Japanese people about it to get a feel of how they think about it.