‘The worst abuse against a child is the absence of a parent’: how Japanese unwed mothers evaluate their decision to have a child outside wedlock

In this article I argue that childrearing norms play a key role in discouraging women from having children outside wedlock in contemporary Japan. I first summarize data which suggest that economic and legal discrimination, the two reasons most commonly used to account for the rarity of unwed mothers, although playing an important role, are insufficient to explain the phenomenon. Then I present evidence of the crucial role childrearing norms play. I proceed to argue that adherence to these norms is strengthened by perceptions of the malleability of children. The article concludes with an explanation of why social norms have a much greater effect on unwed than on divorced mothers.