2013 Conference

Financial Services

Financial Services

The purpose of this study is to examine the associations between financial savings and three types of unwelcome, unexpected life events among Japanese women - job loss, the onset of mental or physical disabilities of self or family members, and marital dissolution - to advance our understanding of the current recession and concerns about intra-national economic inequality. Using the Japanese Panel Survey of Consumers, we will utilize a multilevel modeling approach to assess the impact of these events on the presence and amount of savings. An earlier cross-section study found no association between the number of life events and savings. Here, we will focus on the three types of unexpected life events utilizing the panel-nature of the data. The findings will have fiscal and other public policy implications as Japan undergoes rapid changes in demographic composition that many other countries expect to follow.