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- Convenors:
-
Helen Macnaughtan
(SOAS University of London)
Mari Miura (Sophia University)
Sawako Shirahase (University of Tokyo)
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- Chair:
-
Machiko Osawa
(Japan Women's University)
- Discussant:
-
Machiko Osawa
(Japan Women's University)
- Stream:
- Economics, Business and Political Economy
- Location:
- Torre B, Piso 3, T11
- Start time:
- 31 August, 2017 at
Time zone: Europe/Lisbon
- Session slots:
- 1
Short Abstract:
Japan’s gender gap is the worst among advanced countries globally, due to a lack of women’s economic opportunities and low female representation in the political sphere. We discuss the factors preventing Japan from achieving gender equality in the workplace and in politics, and why the 1986 Equal Employment Opportunity Law (EEOL) has not led to significant improvements three decades on.
Long Abstract:
In the 1970s and 1980s many advanced nations experienced an advancement of women in the labour market, aided by gender equality policies. However, in Japan, three decades after the enactment of the 1986 Equal Employment Opportunity Law (EEOL), there has been limited progress in the workplace, boardrooms and in politics. While gains have been made in female tertiary education, this has not dramatically improved opportunities for women and a large gender gap is pervasive. In this panel, social scientists from diverse disciplinary perspectives examine the changing working and family lives of Japanese women and elucidate on why gender equality remains elusive.
Miura’s paper investigates the gender bias embedded in the electoral system and recruitment process of political parties. She argues that the stagnation of gender equality policy in Japan results not only from the few number of women politicians, but also from the dynamism of partisan competition in which gender equality has drawn scant political attention.
Macnaughtan investigates whether employment in Japan is fragmenting into a new construct of gender (promoted by so-called 'Womenomics' policy) or whether the resilience of the old gendered system will hold strong. She argues that the way both women and men are expected to work has not significantly changed since the early post-war years, and that, despite equal employment legislation, the current system discriminates against both sexes in Japan.
One of the most notable changes since the late 1990s in Japan is the widening inequality between households and Shirahase investigates mothers’ work and inequality among children from an international perspective. She finds that cross-nationally the increase in the number of well-paid mothers does not appear to be negatively associated with fertility.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Paper short abstract:
Is employment in Japan fragmenting into a new construct of gender, with so-called 'Womenomics' policy? Or will the resilience of the status quo remain? I argue that the way in which both sexes are expected to work has not significantly changed, despite 30 years of equal employment legislation.
Paper long abstract:
This paper offers a framework for analysing employment in Japan, the concept of 'gender dividend'. The post-war Japanese employment system at its core harnessed a gender dividend of difference that promoted a division of labour by sex. However, the focus on issues relating to women's employment since the implementation of the EEOL in 1986 is promoting a universal ideal that seeks to harness a dividend from gender equality. This paper investigates whether employment in Japan is fragmenting into a new construct of gender or whether the resilience of the old gender system will hold strong. The paper first outlines a theoretical framework within which gender and employment in Japan can be placed. It then analyses to what degree government policy and equal employment legislation has brought change and advancement for working women (and men) over time. The paper demonstrates how employment remains persistently gendered despite 30 years of equality legislation and an accompanying increase in the proportion of women working in Japan. It argues that gender equality cannot be achieved if men are not included in the renegotiation of employment. In Japan there has been advancing policy focused on female employment, but within an expectation that male employment will naturally accommodate and adjust to the increased presence of working women. This leads to an outcome where underlying 'traditional' gender norms are still being perpetuated in tandem with the movement to gender equality, resulting in a key tension and a persistence of a post-war division of labor by sex. Just as women remain segregated from men in employment, men too are therefore segregated from women. The paper argues that the way men are expected to work has not significantly changed since the early post-war years, and that, despite equal employment legislation, the current system discriminates against both sexes in Japan. The paper seeks to offer a critical framework for understanding how societal and workplace gendering continues to be reproduced in Japan.
Paper short abstract:
The paper aims to examine economic inequality among children, associated with mother's work. To clarify Japan's situation, I compare Japan to Germany, Italy, Spain, Taiwan. The contribution of a mother's income to the household is more or less limited in low-fertility societies.
Paper long abstract:
It has been more than 30 years since the Equal Employment Opportunity Law was enacted in Japan. However, the majority of married women do not stay in the labor market throughout their life course. In this study I like to examine economic inequality among children, associated with mother's work. Japan has suffered from very low fertility rates since the mid-1970s, although Japan has introduced several policies to increase fertility rates over the last 25 years. I focus on the significance of the mother's income in explaining income inequality among children.
The second demographic transition has been described as closely related to expanding inequality among children (Mclanahan 2004), but no systematic discussions have been made about the relationship between mother's work and inequality among children. To clarify Japan's situation, I employ a cross-national comparison. I compare Japan to Germany, Italy, Spain, Taiwan. The Japanese data are taken from the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions (CSLCJ), and data for the other societies are drawn from Luxembourg Income Studies (LIS). Income inequality is measured as the post-transfer disposable equivalent income calculated by dividing household income by the square root of household size.
According to my preliminary analyses, the contribution of a mother's income to the household is more or less limited in low-fertility societies. The incomes of mothers in Japan, Spain, and Italy seem to have limited impact in explaining economic inequality among children, on average. However, Spain and Italy have more well-paid double-income couples than does Japan; thus, economic inequality among families with children is higher in Spain and Italy than in Japan. Ironically, therefore, the increase in the number of well-paid mothers does not seem to be negatively associated with fertility, while economic inequality has remained stable along with gradual increase in fertility since the mid-1990s in both Italy and Spain.
Paper short abstract:
This paper investigates the gender bias embedded in the electoral system and recruitment process of political parties. I argue that Japan's mixed electoral system requires high political capital to be elected, which makes it difficult for women to enter politics.
Paper long abstract:
Japan still lags far behind with regards to gender equality. According to the Gender Gap Index offered by the World Economic Forum, Japan ranks at the 111th out of 144 countries as of 2016. The low scores in economic opportunity and political empowerment drag down Japan's overall ranking. Although the relationship between women's empowerment in the economy and politics is actually complex, we can reasonably expect that women members of parliament are more likely to enact effective laws to improve the status of women in the economy. Thus, we need to ask why there are so few women in politics in Japan. Indeed, the percentage of women in the Lower House is only 9.5%, which ranks Japan at the 157th out of 191 countries.
This paper investigates the gender bias embedded in the electoral system and recruitment process of political parties. I argue that Japan's mixed electoral system requires high political capital to be elected, which makes it difficult for women who have tighter time constrain than men to enter politics. Moreover, gendered power relations within political parties also hinder women from entering politics.
Although Japanese electoral system is not favorable to women, women representatives have steadily increased in the last two decades. This phenomenon may be explained by strategic decisions of political parties. As the relationship between parties and their traditional support base became fluid, they turned to women voters to compensate for their lost votes. The LDP (Liberal Democratic Party), which is increasingly becoming hawkish, lose peace-oriented women voters, and instead try to appeal to high-skilled professional women. In contrast, the DP (Democratic Party) has not advocated gender equality policies to sufficiently attract women's votes.
Stagnation of gender equality policy in Japan, therefore, results not only from the few number of women representatives, but also from the dynamism of partisan competition in which gender equality has drawn scant political attention.