現代日本研究センター　次世代研究者フォーラム

Early-Career Scholar Forum

<Title>
Accumulation of Inequality across Multi-Generations in Japan: Focusing on Intergenerational Support

<Speaker>
Misaki Matano (Project Research Associate at the Institute of Social Science, the University of Tokyo)

<Moderator>
Sawako Shirahase (Director of TCJS)

<Abstract>
The life stage of old age among Japanese people has been extended with the increase in longevity. The period that people interact with their grandparents, as well as parents, in their life course is longer due to the increase in longevity. As multi-generational involvement increases, children are influenced directly or indirectly not only by their parents but also by their grandparents. Previous studies of social stratification have focused on only two generations, parents and children. However, it is necessary to examine how inequality is transmitted across multiple generations, including grandparents. Previous research has shown that intergenerational support is one of the pathways through which social inequality is reproduced from the parental generation to the child generation. In this study, I empirically examine how inequality is reproduced through intergenerational support, including the grandparents’ generation, using Japanese panel data.

<About the speaker>
Misaki Matano is a Project Research Associate at the Institute of Social Science, the University of Tokyo. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Musashi University in 2021. Her research interest lies in how differences in the intergenerational relationship are related to people’s life chances and outcomes in contemporary Japan. In addition, her recent work focuses on the multigenerational inequality in Japan. She also studied the effects of intergenerational support on children's leaving parental homes as a JSPS Research Fellow (DC1).