Abstract
I examined the argument of “individualization” within the framework of social stratification theory, using empirical micro-data. The analyses of this paper are divided into three topics : (1) the comparison of the determinants of subjective social strata between married men and women, (2) the examination of the income of the elderly who share the household with their younger generation, and (3) the examination of the income of unmarried adult children who cohabit with their parents.
The pattern of the determinants of subjective social strata is asymmetrical by gender. Married women are more likely to be influenced by social status of their husbands than their own, while married men are more likely to determine their subjective social strata by their own socio-economic status than by the characteristics of their wives. Married women need to take into account the gender role within the household and their position in the labor market when they determine their subjective social strata. The elderly and unmarried adult children in the household are also influenced by the socio-economic characteristics of the household. Among the high-income households, they are likely to benefit from living with other family members, while among the low-income households, they tend to be the ones who support the family and other members benefit from living with them.
Individuals do not become independent of the household. Both unmarried adult children and the elderly were closely related to the economic standing of the household to which they belonged. Changes in the lifestyles of women and the demographic transformation (decreased fertility rate and aging) took place within the context of the significant relationship between the individual and the household.
