The “Maid” and the New Middle Class in Tokyo during the Inter-war Period

Another Suburbanization

Abstract

How was the “maid shortage, ” which is considered as one of the factors contributing to the birth of the “modern family” characterized by gender division of labor, related with the growth of the new middle class in Tokyo during the inter-war period? How was the employment of maids related to the suburbanization of the new middle class, and what was the significance to the suburbs of Tokyo?
This paper attempts to examine the above themes using data from population censuses and past studies on maids. Maids, as well as factory workers, were the typical occupations in which many young women engaged before World War II. There was already a shortage of maids since the end of the Meiji era, when “maid service” became a means of income acquisition rather than mere manners training for young girls. As the domestic labor markets, which were regionally divided in the past, became gradually unified during the inter-war period, Tokyo absorbed a large quantity of labor from the countryside. Migrant workers from farming villages formed this big flow and maids were a major part of this movement.
Although the actual number of maids increased during the inter-war period, the size of the new middle class expanded at a higher rate. It created a discrepancy between the demand from prospective employers and the number of job seekers, resulting in a serious shortage of maids. As most new middle class households were not able to employ more than one maid, wives were not totally exempted from performing housework. This contributed to the definite gender division of labor between husband and wife in the household. Thus, the western and southwestern suburbs of Tokyo, which experienced a rapid expansion of the new middle class, were transformed into an urban space characterized by a “dual structure” consisting of, on the one hand, “maids” created in the transition to industrialization and, on the other hand, “housewives” created along with the birth of the “modern family.”