デンマークにおける女性の職業キャリア戦略と出産タイミング　――どのように仕事と育児の両立を行っているのか？――

抄録

  Scandinavian countries are generally characterized as having high female labor force participation. At the same time, their total fertility rate remains high relative to other developed countries. These facts show that Scandinavian women work outside the home while taking care of children. According to previous research studies, the high rate of women’s employment and high fertility level in these countries are buttressed by various kinds of child-care services provided by the public sector. Recently Danish child-care policy has focused on fathers as well as on mothers. Consequently more and more husbands can participate in housework and childcare.

  The purpose of this article is to focus on how in Denmark, in order to achieve a satisfactory balance between work and childcare, women choose the best timing for childbearing from a personal point of view, utilizing child-care support from the public sector and from their husbands. The qualitative data was collected through interviews in Denmark with 7 wives and 5 husbands, each having one or two children, including 5 couples and also 2 subjects living in a consensual union.

  The results revealed that the women choose the best timing for childbearing with careful consideration for their employer and colleagues, or for their continued career, as can be expressed as a “women’s career strategy”. Thus, the women believe employers frown upon maternity leave of absence just after the start of a career. Women also think it difficult to return to work after maternity leave without any previous career experience. This indicates that women’s childbirth behavior might be determined by society or institutions, even though childbearing is regarded or discussed as “a personal preference matter” in contemporary societies.