Wang Jie, a specially appointed lecturer at Keio University's Faculty of Economics, Economic Research Institute, and Akaka, a faculty member of the Faculty of Economics, said that female students who received loan-type scholarships tend to marry later in the future and have fewer children. This was discovered through research by Professor Hideo Hayashi and his colleagues. The research group recommends that consideration should be given to the impact on family formation when designing scholarship systems.
According to Keio University, the research group was planned in 2017 by the Children's Equal Opportunity Research Center at Keio University's Faculty of Economics, and based on data collected through the Keio University Panel Data Design and Analysis Center. A total of 20 people were analyzed.
The results showed that receiving loan-type scholarships did not have a significant effect on men's marriage probability, but it did have a negative effect on women's marriage. The amount received did not matter. There was no effect on the number of children men had, but there was a negative impact on the number of children women had.
The number of recipients and the amount of scholarships received have recently increased rapidly due to the expansion of scholarships provided by the Japan Student Services Organization. The receiving rate was in the 1990% range in the 10s, but has soared to the 40% range in recent years. This means that one in four adults in their mid-40s have used scholarships.
However, grant-type scholarships are limited, and most are loan-type. As a result, more than 30 young people leave society each year with scholarship debt, leading to concerns about the impact on their livelihoods and family formation.
Paper information:【Studies in Higher Education】Student loan debt and family formation of youth in Japan
