• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.79-112
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• 2000

This study was focused on the contrasting pattern of part-time employment between Japan and Taiwan where the environments are similar in terms of expanding service industries and increasing flexibility of labor. In Japan, the expansion of part-time employment and its feminization have occurred, whereas they have not at all in Taiwan. The purpose of this study was to examine the reasons behind this phenomena, and to explore what relations they might have with the supply of women\`s labor in each country. Data analysis showed the following results. First, when the phenomena of part-time employment in Japan and Taiwan are summarized as \`active\` and \`inactive\` models, the difference could be explained by a structure-oriented approach rather than an individual-oriented approach. In other words, the difference between the two countries is mainly because of the structural characteristics of the labor market. a combination of capitalism and patriarchy, and an effect of state welfare and family policies rather than a \`voluntaristic choice\` due tn household work and child rearing. In light of this. the labor market segmentation and flexibility of labor theory in particular provided a useful frame for explanation. Second, with regard to the supply of women\`s labor, the difference between Japan and Taiwan could be found in the structure of the labor market and in family response strategies. The large corporation-oriented and strictly divided labor market structure in Japan activated part-time employment and its feminization, whereas, the small family-oriented businesses and less divided labor market in Taiwan supported the continuity of full-time employment of married women. There was also a room for informal employment in Taiwan which made part-time employment unnecessary. This study showed that even within similar environments of expanding service industry and pursuing flexibility of labor different measures and adaptations were possible. The case of Taiwan in particular, showed the significance of an informal labor market which was a part of industrialization process and a strategy of producing various products through a subcontracting network.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.79-108
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• 2016

This study is focused on the historical route in which reconciliation between work and family has been operating in the United States whose welfare standards are low, by using analytic narratives, from late 19th century to early 20th century. The first step saw an increase in the social advancement of unmarried women due to the increase in employment in the occupation of white-collar, as well as the increase of women in the Academy and in educational institutions. In the second step, the social advancement of married women was increased by the enforcement of the New Deal, consumption capitalism, and World War II. In the third step, the sphere of highly-educated women was expanded to a professional one through active measures aimed at gender equality, and the women's liberation movement of the 1960s took place. The United States' path model was completed in the fourth step. This study show that the most important factors have a significant influence to complete route of the American's Route were individual efforts of women (capacity building through the academic and the powerful women's movement) and the individual employment relationship in labor market. This study shows that individual efforts of women, especially in building capacity through the academic and the powerful women's movement, and the labor market, whose individual employment relationship is well-developed, have a significant influence on completing the route of the highly educated middle-class women in America.