The Reciprocal Relationship Between Unemployment and Social Isolation in Contemporary Japan: A Longitudinal Approach Using the Japanese Life Course Panel Survey

Abstract

Even though Japan has lower unemployment rates than other industrial societies, it has particularly increased for young and middle-aged people over the two last decades. Similarly, social isolation is a problem in Japan and is thought to be a potential cause of unemployment. The present study uses waves 1 (2007), 3 (2009) and 5 (2011) from the Japanese Life Course Panel Survey, a nationally representative data for Japanese people aged 20 to 40. We perform a cross-lagged panel model with and without random intercepts and control a set of socio-economic covariates. Results show that the seeming reciprocal relationship between unemployment and social isolation is spurious after controlling for covariates at an earlier life stage and random intercepts implying between-individual inherent traits. We conclude that it is challenging to overcome the initial social and economic disadvantages in contemporary Japanese society.