Faced with ramping ageing and falling birth rate, Japan is neglecting one of the assets of its economic recovery: women. In spite of the 1947 Constitution provides for “fundamental gender equality” before the law, only 75 percent of permanent employees are women, even though they have as many degrees as men. When they do have a permanent contract, their wages are 25 percent lower than men’s. Yet, a recent survey found that Japan could boost its GDP by 12.5 percent if it raised women’s activity rate to the same level as men. Aware of the interest of this lever for the economy, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made the increase in women’s activity rate one of the objectives of the “Abenomics,” his strategy to revive growth in the country.
In Japan, even today, few women are given positions of responsibility, notably in large businesses. “All in all, female manpower in japan remains lower than in other developed countries. Too few women have management posts and businesses’ HR policies straight out dissuade married women from pursuing their career.” This is the final observation made by Shozo Yamada, labor law professor at the Chuo University in Tokyo.
Women at work: advantageous prospects for Japanese firms. If the activity ra
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