Abstract
For new single mothers, deciding where to live is a choice governed not only by practicalities, such as employment opportunities and environments in which to raise children, but by individual emotional factors such as place attachment, sense of belonging and personal identity. As the number of mixed marriages has increased in the age of globalization, residential choice following marital breakdown and separation is a topic to be explored from a transnational perspective. Taking Japanese single mothers in Australia as an example, this chapter examines their decision to remain in Australia and raise their children.
Although most Japanese women obtain permanent Australian residency after their marriage to Australian men, they rarely pursue Australian citizenship. Moreover, it is common for most single Japanese women with children to remain in Australia after separation. These phenomena raise the following questions: Why do they remain in Australia? How do they negotiate their sense of belonging towards Japan as their homeland with that of Australia as their current home, and how may this shape their identity? In its investigation of these points, this qualitative study focuses on women residing in southeast Queensland, the most common destination in Australia for Japanese migrants and tourists. Based on data from in-depth interviews, it reveals that participants’ experiential views of Japanese society, in addition to practical matters, influenced their decision to remain after separation. Many have employment experience in Japan, and yet negative representations dominate their opinion of Japanese workplaces as well as the limited job opportunities for women there. The view that Japanese society is patriarchal is also common among them. This study argues that such negative images of Japanese society indirectly affect their decision-making process. It also shows that their subjective and strategic choice of remaining in Australia as agency, whereby they appropriate the practical benefits of staying in Australia and of maintaining a distance between themselves and their patriarchal homeland.
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Notes
- 1.
A long-term resident, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, refers to any Japanese (other than permanent residents) staying more than 3 months. For instance, it includes Japanese workers in overseas (Australian) offices of Japanese companies, and those in Australia as overseas students, researchers, teachers, and on working holidays.
- 2.
Family Tax Benefit is paid for the cost of raising children, Child Care Benefit supports the cost for child care, and Parenting Payment (about A$500 fortnight) is paid for single parent who raise children under 6 years old. Rent Assistance provides support for the rent to landlords. Baby Bonus is paid to families following the birth or adoption of a child in the amount of A$5,294 in 2010.
- 3.
OECD stands for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. In 2010, the number of OECD member states is 34, and most of them are industrialized countries.
- 4.
In the manifesto during the 2009 election, DP promised to re-start Boshi-kasan (aid to single parent household), which had been abolished by LDP government in 2009. DP government’s agenda on social welfare is characterized by various kinds of safety nets for those in financial difficulties, such as the unemployed, single parents, and households with children. However, so far their agenda draw criticism from the opposition parties because of few financial resources to achieve their planned social welfare programs.
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Nagatomo, J. (2012). Japanese Single Mothers in Australia: Negotiation with Patriarchal Ideology and Stigma in the Homeland. In: Bonifacio, G. (eds) Feminism and Migration. International Perspectives on Migration, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2831-8_5
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