Introduction
According to the Global Gender Gap Report in 2017, Japan ranks 114 out of 144 countries surveyed for gender equality (Economic World Forum, 2017, p. 11). Japan specifically struggles in terms of economic participation and opportunity, and political empowerment. In recent years, particularly since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s election in 2012, the Japanese government has been taking steps to address the problem of gender equality both domestically and internationally (Gelb and Kumagai 2018). This paper will focus on domestic efforts at promoting gender equality.
There are three problems the Japanese government is trying to fix by addressing gender equality domestically: the lagging economy resulting from a labor shortage, the low birth rate that is leading to an increasingly aging society, and the image of Japan among the international community as a country that does not place emphasis on women’s empowerment (Macnaughten 2015). Abe’s economic policy, “Womenomics,” is considered to be the solution to all three of these problems, although primarily it is focused on fixing the most pressing problem of a labor shortage in the Japanese economy. “Womenomics” is focused on increasing the number of women entering the work force, staying in the work force after getting married and having kids, and advancing higher in leadership positions (Dalton 2017).
By encouraging more women to enter the work force, the labor shortage can be filled. By encouraging women to stay in the work force even after getting married and having children, women will not have to choose between a career and a family, leading to an increase in the birth rate. By having more women in leadership positions at major companies, Japan’s image internationally as a country that champions women’s rights will be recognized.
The steps taken to address the problem of gender equality domestically in Japan are superficial and ineffective, because ultimately the main goal of “Womenomics” is economic improvement rather than human rights improvement. More specifically, the policies reinforce gender norms, and they rely too heavily on the willingness of companies to voluntarily cooperate to dismantle the toxic work culture. This paper will examine some of the specific policies enacted by the Japanese government under “Womenomics” to reveal their superficiality and ineffectiveness.
Company cooperation and toxic work culture
One of the main policies enacted by the Abe administration that displays its dependence on company cooperation for gender equality improvement is the “30% target” plan. The “30% target” plan looks to increase the status of women in the Japanese work force by creating a goal of women making up 30% of leadership positions in all sectors. As of 2012, women made up only 10% of managers in Japanese companies, compared to 43% in the United States, and 35% in the United Kingdom (Nemoto, 2013, p.515). This plan has been a goal of the Gender Equality Bureau since its creation in 2001, was reaffirmed in the Second Basic Plan for Gender Equality created in 2005, and again was confirmed in 2014 as a part of Abe’s “Womenomics” (Macnaughten, 2015, p.7; Gelb and Kumagai, 2018, p.338). While this is an admirable benchmark to aim for, the policy’s lack of actual legislation to help women reach this 30% target soon became evident. After only one year of Abe’s “Womenomics” policy, the 30% target was lowered to be only 7% in the government, and 15% in the private sector (Gelb and Kumagai, 2018, p.342). This lowering of the target numbers shows that the government knew that this goal was ineffective in actually helping women in the work force, but did nothing to fix the policy itself. Rather than look for ways to actually motivate companies to make changes and to support women further in reaching the original targets, the government simply decreased the targets to more reasonable numbers within the male-dominated ideology of the Japanese work force.
The failure of these initiatives is partially due to the patriarchal structure of Japanese society, which manifests itself in workplace practices that inherently favor men. Some of these practices include long work hours, pay cuts following time off for childcare, and a double-track hiring system with women often confined to the clerical rather than professional track (Gelb and Kumagai, 2018). Promotions are often determined based on overtime hours and loyalty to the company; because women are expected to take care of the home and children, they cannot work overtime as long as men, and taking maternity leave is considered to be a “break” from the company (Nemoto 2013). If the government was truly interested in the human rights aspect of gender equality, they would put more pressure on companies to change these patriarchal notions in the work place to reach the original 30% goals. The government would place penalties on the companies that did not reach the goals, rather than simply decreasing the target so that it appears the companies “successfully” reached them. This policy seems to be more of a superficial publicity stunt for international recognition rather than a true attempt to improve gender equality.
Policies reinforcing archaic gender roles
The archaic belief of “separate spheres” for men and women has greatly influenced Japanese culture, particularly in the division of labor between men and women. Men are expected to be the main breadwinner, placing their job above everything else, including family. Women, on the other hand, are expected to fulfill a dual role, first and foremost as the caretaker of the children and home, but also as an ideal worker (Nemoto 2013). The policies of the Japanese government do not effectively target dismantling these archaic gender roles prevalent in Japanese businesses and society, but in fact reinforce them.
The “Womenomics” policy to expand available childcare facilities with its “zero childcare waiting-list policy” is an example of reinforcing gender roles in society. This policy looks to increase childcare capacity by 400,000 children by 2017 using a variety of methods (Chanlett-Avery and Nelson, 2014, p.415). Although increased childcare options would help relieve the stress placed on working mothers, this policy reinforces the idea that it is the woman’s job to take care of the children (Goto 2016). Additionally, Abe proposed extending childcare leave from one year to three years. This policy, similarly, does not fully address the gender equality problem; it would make it more difficult for men to accept paternal leave, and it would make it more difficult for women to return to work after a three year absence (Macnaughten 2015). A policy that was centered on human rights rather than the economy would take a more nuanced approach and attempt to increase the father’s role in raising children rather than continuing to place this responsibility on the mother. The “Womenomics” policies are solely focused on keeping women in the work force after having children, but do not adequately attack the harmful ideology of women as homemakers and men as breadwinners.
In addition to implementing policies that reinforce gender roles, Abe’s government is also failing to change existing policies that reinforce these roles. The spousal tax system, developed in 1961, is an archaic law that allows companies to pay lower wages to their married female employees (Macnaughten 2015). The spousal tax system allows a husband to claim his wife as a dependent, and the wife to claim a national pension without paying any premiums, as long as the wife’s income does not exceed 1.03 million yen (Chanlett-Avery and Nelson, 2014, p.416). Although the Japanese government attempted to change this system in March 2017, it was unsuccessful due to backlash (Gelb and Kumagai, 2018, p.343). The resistance to changing the spousal tax and social security system comes mainly from businesses who do not want to adjust employer compensation packages or be required to pay higher wages to married female workers (Macnaughten 2015). Some women also do not want the spousal tax system to change, as they enjoy the benefits and flexibility as a dependent (Macnaughten 2015). The resistance to changing this archaic and gendered policy shows the pushback from both men and women in Japanese society to change the “separate spheres” ideology of their culture. The government must work to change the patriarchal mindset of Japanese society if they want to fix the root of the problem of gender equality in Japan.
Conclusion
“Womenomics” policies employed by the Japanese government are based on archaic ideas of gender identity present in Japanese society. These policies should be challenging these ideas and biases if they are truly trying to address the problem of gender equality, rather than being solely focused on economic improvement. Additionally, the Japanese government’s policies towards improving gender equality are more aspirations and goals, with no concrete sanctions if companies do not succeed in meeting them. They are focused only on incorporating women into the economy, and not on changing the harmful work culture for both men and women. These long working hours are harmful for men as well as women. Karoshi, or suicide due to overworking, remains common in Japan among men (Nemoto 2013). Only policies that focus on changing the archaic gender roles and toxic workplace culture for both men and women will succed in improving the gender equality issue in Japan. With the current policies of “Womenomics,” the Japanese government is simply using “improving gender equality” as a mask for their ulterior motives of fixing economic problems domestically and improving Japan’s image and influence internationally.