Female Employment in Japan
Female employment in Japanese labor market
GEM (Gender Empowerment Measure) of Japan ranks the 58th among 108 countries and GGI (Gender Gap Index) of it ranks the 105th among 136 countries. It means that in Japan the gap between men and women is big and the economic and political opportunities for women are not enough, although human developments are achieved.
The number of female employed persons in Japan, which accounted for 35.9 per cent of all employed persons in 1985, has gradually grown and then reached 42.3 per cent in 2009, according to the Labour Force Survey by the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Women are disproportionately represented among non-regular workers especially in Japan
Only 46.4 per cent of women are in regular employment, compared with 80.8 per cent of regular male employees, with majority of female employees working in non-regular forms of employment as part-time workers, temporary agency workers, contract workers, and others However non-standard work in Japan, the majority of which are female, is not decent in terms of job security, vocational training, and wages.
The female labour force ratio in Japan develops in the M curve, reflecting the drop in employment among women in their thirties. The dip is due to the tendency for women to leave the workforce after marriage or childbirth, often returning to work after their children are grown.
Japan enacted the Equal Employment Opportunity Act in 1986, and the legal mechanisms for ensuring gender equality in the workplace have continued to progress since then. However, this does not mean that these opportunities are equally available higher up the corporate career ladder.
The ratio of female managers in Japan is gradually increasing, but still 9.8 per cent in 2008, compared with 42.7 per cent in the U.S.
Reasons
1. Traditional role model for women
In Japan there still remains the deeply rooted social attitude or a so-called sexual
GEM (Gender Empowerment Measure) of Japan ranks the 58th among 108 countries and GGI (Gender Gap Index) of it ranks the 105th among 136 countries. It means that in Japan the gap between men and women is big and the economic and political opportunities for women are not enough, although human developments are achieved.
The number of female employed persons in Japan, which accounted for 35.9 per cent of all employed persons in 1985, has gradually grown and then reached 42.3 per cent in 2009, according to the Labour Force Survey by the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Women are disproportionately represented among non-regular workers especially in Japan
Only 46.4 per cent of women are in regular employment, compared with 80.8 per cent of regular male employees, with majority of female employees working in non-regular forms of employment as part-time workers, temporary agency workers, contract workers, and others However non-standard work in Japan, the majority of which are female, is not decent in terms of job security, vocational training, and wages.
The female labour force ratio in Japan develops in the M curve, reflecting the drop in employment among women in their thirties. The dip is due to the tendency for women to leave the workforce after marriage or childbirth, often returning to work after their children are grown.
Japan enacted the Equal Employment Opportunity Act in 1986, and the legal mechanisms for ensuring gender equality in the workplace have continued to progress since then. However, this does not mean that these opportunities are equally available higher up the corporate career ladder.
The ratio of female managers in Japan is gradually increasing, but still 9.8 per cent in 2008, compared with 42.7 per cent in the U.S.
Reasons
1. Traditional role model for women
In Japan there still remains the deeply rooted social attitude or a so-called sexual