2021 Volume 72 Issue 2 Pages 59-73
The purpose of this study is to clarify the changes in household formation and generational succession between 1982 and 2014 in rural stem family system households. This paper presents the results of a panel data analysis of 239 subjects classified as “MC-1”, “MC-2”, or “MC-3”, by marriage cohort. The main findings of the study are as follows. First, the rates of generational succession of household members in 2014 were 70.1％ for MC-1, 37.9％ for MC-2, and 26.0％ for MC-3. Second, direct continuity was maintained in the household formation of MC-1, whereas it appears that in MC-2 and MC-3 it was difficult to maintain direct continuity. Third, the factors that significantly promoted generational succession of members were found to be “belonging to MC-1” (1982, 1993, and 2014) and “the expectation of inheriting farmland by the eldest son” (2005 and 2014). Finally, study results showed that, as generational succession becomes difficult because of socioeconomic changes in the community, where the norms of the stem family system are maintained, the number of households with unmarried children living with their parents continues to increase, thereby stagnating household formation.
