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A study of human reproduction and social organization in preindustrial communities that reveals important similarities between Europe and Asia.This pioneering study reconceptualizes the impact of social organizations, economic conditions, and human agency on human reproduction in preindustrial communities in Europe and Asia. Unlike previous studies, in which Asia is measured by European standards, Prudence and Pressure develops a Eurasian perspective. Drawing on rich new data and the tools of event-history analysis, the authors challenge the accepted Eurocentric Malthusian view that attributes "prudence" (smaller families due to late marriage) to the preindustrial West and "pressure" (high mortality due to overpopulation) to the East, showing instead important similarities between Europe and Asia in human motivation and population behavior.The authors analyze age, gender, family and household, kinship, social class and power, religion, culture, and economic resources in order to compare reproductive strategies and outcomes. They reveal underlying similarities between East and West in two major components of the reproductive regime--marriage and childbearing--and offer evidence showing that preindustrial reproduction was motivated and governed by human agency at least as much as by human biology. Prudence and Pressure is part of a large-scale interdisciplinary effort to use new data and methods to re-examine the Malthusian paradigm of population growth. It represents a significant advance in the fields of historical demography, history, and sociology.

This study examines the patterns of educational attainment and first employment among young Japanese, and their effects on the likelihood of first marriage, using micro-level data drawn from a national family survey in 2004 and its follow-up in 2007. Attainment of higher education increased dramatically in postwar Japan, and such gains were especially notable for women. Meanwhile, regular employment has decreased, and temporary employment has risen rapidly among young Japanese since the 1990s. The study reveals that obtaining regular employment as the first job strongly enhances the likelihood of first marriage for both genders although the marriage-enhancing effect is stronger for men than for women. First entry to the labor market as a temporary worker also significantly diminishes the likelihood of first marriage for men. Like other industrialized economies in Asia, improving educational attainment is found to be a factor causing declining first marriage among young Japanese women.

Frontmatter --Contents --List of Figures --List of Tables --Preface --Chapter One. Introduction /Tsuya, Noriko O. / Bumpass, Larry L. --Chapter Two. Attitudes Relating to Marriage and Family Life /Bumpass, Larry L. / Choe, Minja Kim --Chapter Three. Views of Marriage among Never-Married Young Adults /Tsuya, Noriko O. / Mason, Karen Oppenheim / Bumpass, Larry L. --Chapter Four. Intergenerational Relations /Rindfuss, Ronald R. / Choe, Minja Kim / Bumpass, Larry L. / Byun, Yong-Chan --Chapter Five. Investments in Children's Education, Desired Fertility, and Women's Employment /Tsuya, Noriko O. / Choe, Minja Kim --Chapter Six. Employment --Chapter Seven. Gender and Housework /Tsuya, Noriko O. --Chapter Eight. The Family in Comparative Perspective /Rindfuss, Ronald R. --Notes --References --Contributors --Index