共働き夫婦における親族の育児援助と夫の育児参加: 子どもの病気時の育児を中心に

摘要

This study examines the relationship between child care support from the relatives of wives, and husbands'participation in child care among dual-career couples. I focused on the care of sick children. I studied 534 couples with children in day care in a questionnaire in 2009 in the Tokyo and Chiba prefectures. This study indicates that when wives' relatives are involved in looking after sick children, husbands tend to participate to a lesser degree in terms of child care. The frequency with which relatives were asked for assistance with regard to child care did not relate to the husbands' degree of participation. E. Bott has stated that the close relationships between wives and their relatives tend to interfere with couples' relationships. However, my findings tend to suggest that the relationship between wives and their relatives may not be as close as previously hypothesized. In relation to the husbands' degree of participation in child care, the husbands' long working hours and the fact that their working hours are not flexible had a greater influence than the standing of wives relatives regarding the care of sick children. It was presumed that if husbands could not participate in child care because of work, wives could ask relatives for support.%子育て期にある女性の就業を促進するためには，保育所の整備をはじめ，行政や企業の次世代育成支援対策の推進などが求められ　その中でも男性の家事?育児参加の促進は重要な課題の一つとなっている．2006年の「社会生活基本調査」1）によれば，近年，男性の家事?育児時間は上昇しているのもの，1～2歳の子のいる夫婦共働き世帯の場合，妻の週平均家事?育児時間が5時間43分に対し，11夫は1時間9分に過ぎず，夫婦間に依然として大きな差がある．