A 1999 Time Use Survey of Japanese Farming Couples Who Are Interested in the Family Management Agreement

Abstract

This study aims 1) to understand the life status of farming couples, focusing on their time use, and 2) to propose to the couples an introduction of the positive life agreement, the contents of which are included in the Family Management Agreement. The survey was conducted in October 1999. The respondents manage farms full-time in Tokyo, Ibaraki, Nagano, Gifu, Gunma, and Kanagawa Prefectures. The results are as follows : First, the gross income of many of our respondents earn more than 10, 000, 000 yen, meaning that their “agricultural work time” as a whole is long. On the other hand, it also creates a circumstance of a shortage of “social/cultural activities time.” Second, there is a clear gender difference in “household work time”. Wives spend longer hours on “household work time” on non-farming days. Thirdly, although they work more than 250 days a year, the farming couples have their own identity as well as life style.