63% of Japanese men want wives to work, but 54% of Japanese women want to become full-time housewives, say the results of a recent survey.

The survey, of 1,254 unmarried working men and women, asked questions regarding attitudes to women becoming housewives.

Asked if they wanted to become a housewife after marrying and having a child, 53.8% of women responded either that they wanted to if their husband’s income would comfortably support them, or that they wanted to even if their husband’s income was insufficient.

Major reasons for wanting to become a full-time housewife included “wanting to concentrate on housekeeping and childrearing” at 55.2%, “wanting to devote myself to my hobbies” at 25.5% and “because I don’t like working” at 15%, lending weight to the suspicion that laziness rather than a traditional mentality is a major factor.

Actual expectations were slightly removed from desires – when asked “Do you think you will be able to become a full-time housewife?” 68% thought it either impossible or unlikely, whilst 32% considered it possible or probable.

Meanwhile, men asked whether they wanted their wives to become full-time housewives after marriage and childbirth were mostly against the idea – 63% wanted a wife who would “absolutely” or “if at all possible” work, compared to 37% who wanted a stay-at-home housewife.

Fortunately for women looking for a free ride, men appeared none too resolute in the face of work-shy wives – 60.1% of men who wanted a working wife would either willingly or grudgingly agree to her becoming a housewife, 30.1% would try to persuade her not to, but only 9.7% would give up on marrying such a woman and find someone else.

Japanese politicians planning a “gender equal society” seem not to be aware that women apparently don’t want one, preferring instead one where their husbands do all the work and they stay at home watching TV all day.