Lifetime patterns of childbearing and employment: a study of second-generation Japanese American women.

With the increase in labour force participation by wives and mothers in the United States, family roles of modern women are becoming increasingly complex. As mother/provider, women are faced with problems in planning their lives to accommodate their modern roles. Three variant lifetime patterns of fertility and employment are identified in a study of second-generation Japanese American women, a group which has experienced high rates of labour force participation. Analysis of socio-economic background factors suggests that these patterns are alternative modes of integrating the complex lifetime demands on women in the modern world. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]