2024 Volume 75 Issue 3 Pages 239-254
This study aims to identify age-related changes in the influence of non-regular employment of an individual's initial job on mental health in Japan and differences in this trend based on the year an individual enters the workforce. In Japan, research has emphasized the “entrapment scenario,” which refers to the difficulty in becoming a full-time worker when one's initial job was non-regular employment, and its relation to poverty and mental health. Although European health studies have argued that disparities in early life become increasingly serious with age, little debate has been conducted to clarify whether the same is true for mental health disparities based on one's employment status at one's initial job. In addition, potential changes over time in the influence of non-regular employment on individuals' mental health in their initial jobs are rarely discussed, despite the fact that non-regular initial employment changes every year. Based on the above, this study estimates growth curve models using data from the Japanese Life Course Panel Survey. The findings indicate that for individuals who started their initial jobs after 2000, disparities in men's mental health widened with age. However, disparities in women's mental health were the greatest at younger ages. Furthermore, when controlling for marital status, current employment status, and household income, the influence of initial job partially decreased for men but slightly increased for women. The discussion anticipates drawbacks to having non-regular employment as one's initial job. Previous studies have not focused on this and gender gaps in the Japanese workforce.
