One of the stated goals of Prime Minister Abe’s “Abenomics” is to make sweeping changes that empower Japan’s women to help revitalize the economy, though this isn’t going to be an easy job. Japan ranks 101 out of 135 countries on the Global Gender Gap Report, which compares the economic and political participation, education attainment and health and longevity. This is a number I’ve taken issue with before because it places Japan only slightly ahead of Cambodia (103), India (105), and the UAE (107) and implies that Japanese women are unable to live their lives as they choose, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. The situation of women in Japan is a complex one, and frankly not one easily understood by self-important Scandinavians coming up with rankings that they can put themselves at the head of. While the list of problems that need to be addressed is long — waiting lists for daycare, a lack of understanding in company environments when a female employee has to take a day off because of a sick child, a troublesome law that gives married women a tax incentive to earn less then $10,000 per year, which obviously limits the potential she can achieve — the idea that Japan’s women are being actively repressed just because 50.0% of them aren’t running for political office is not an accurate view of “life on the ground.” One aspect of the country that was hard for me to comprehend was the way many Japanese women (more out in Gunma where J-List is located, fewer in Tokyo) actively want to be housewives and raise their children at home, often quitting careers they prepared for for many years before returning to work when the kids are older. While there is still plenty to fix in male-dominated Japan, the fact that women usually have this option available to them is a huge social achievement in my book.
Some thoughts on Japanese women and “Abenomics.”
