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Womenomics

Goldman Sachs strategist Kathy Matsui coined the term Womenomics in 1999. It refers to a set of policies implemented in Japan to reduce gender gaps in the labor market. These policies include increasing female labor participation, women's presence in the labor force, and childcare provision. At the start of his administration in 2012, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe announced the implementation of an economic strategy, known as Abenomics, which included a number of policies aimed at increasing sustained female labor participation in Japan. The idea behind the introduction of these policies was that increasing women’s presence in the workforce would boost Japan’s economic growth.

The motivations for these policy measures were, on one hand, Japan’s low female labor participation rate in 2013, relative to other high-income countries: 65% compared to the U.S. (67.2); Germany (72.6); UK (66.4); and France (66.9). On the other hand, increasing female labor participation is expected to increase the fertility rate and alleviate the aging population problem, which is a major concern of the Japanese government. The fertility rate in Japan is now at 1.25, when the rate needed to ensure population replacement is 2.1.

Female Labor Participation

Regarding the female labor participation rate, Prime Minister Abe committed to a goal of 73% by 2020. In order to achieve this, the Japanese government is focusing on women in age groups 30-34 and 35-40, whom studies have shown have a hard time getting back to the labor force after having children and devoting time to childrearing during their late 20s and early 30s. The government’s goal of increased labor participation for these specific age groups is of 3.15 million more female workers by 2020. Business organizations such as the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keitai Doyukai) and the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) have expressed their support to the Government's policy with the hope that increasing female labor participation will lead to more adaptability to changes in the global economy.

Women in Leadership Roles

Since the implementation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law in 1986, the largest increase in female labor participation has been in the sector of part-time jobs. Since the implementation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law in 1986, the largest increase in female labor participation has been in the sector of part-time jobs. Motivated by this situation and the argument that more diversity in leadership positions leads to better management and more competitiveness, Prime Minister Abe has been encouraging companies and governmental agencies to create alternatives for women’s career advancement. This aspect of Womenomics mainly consists of campaigns and incentives for companies to promote more women to managerial positions, adopt internal gender-inclusiveness quotas, and disclose information regarding the share of female employees in different positions. The goal set for this element of the policy is to achieve 30% of leadership positions for women by 2020, where leadership positions are understood to encompass local and national parliaments; technical specialists; and chief positions in corporations. 

Childcare Provision

There is a shortage of childcare facilities to accommodate at least 23,000 Japanese children who are in waiting lists. In light of this deficit, Prime Minister Abe’s Womenomics plan included a goal of zero children in waiting lists. This will be done by a combination of renting childcare facilities, subsidizing childcare businesses, supporting new childcare providers to attain registration, and hiring new childcare workers. The goal set for this aspect of the policy is to provide childcare facilities for 400,000 children by 2017.

Criticism of Womenomics

There seems to be some international consensus about the effectiveness of promoting female labor participation as a means to increase economic growth. In 2012, the IMF pronounced that a 7% increase in the rate of women in the workforce could lead to a 4% increment in the GDP. However, there are some critical views regarding the likelihood that these policies will significantly increase female labor participation. Some authors point to the prevalent working culture in Japan as a major threat to achieving the set policies’ goals. Long working hours and overtime work are a common practice, as is the custom of going out with colleagues after work to drink alcohol. These features of the working culture in Japan can be irreconcilable with family obligations, particularly child rearing.

There is also some skepticism among academics about the expected effect of Womenomics on Japan’s fertility rate. Many high-income, democratic countries have faced the challenge of aging populations, and to some extent they have addressed it by implementing social and labor policies that facilitate a balance between work and family duties. But one aspect of the solution that Japan continues to oppose is allowing some degree of immigration influx. It is unclear whether the policies under Womenomics alone will be enough to yield a substantial increase in fertility rates.

Another stream of critiques questions whether Womenomics policies are reinforcing gender labor segregation rather than reforming structural barriers to women's advancement, such as the predominance of the male breadwinner model and women's association with reproductive work.

Wiki Proposal: Womenomics

Womenomics is the set of policies implemented in Japan since 2012 to increase women’s labor participation. These include flexible work arrangements, part-time work, and public provision of childcare. This subject is relevant because it is a relatively new policy approach to female labor inclusion. The proposed parent article, "Feminism in Japan", is in need of updating. The most recent historical events that the article's subsection called "Labor" mentions are from 1946 and 1986.

References

1. Macnaughtan, Helen (2015) 'Womenomics for Japan: is the Abe policy for gendered employment viable in an era of precarity?' The Asia-Pacific Journal, 13 (12 /1).
2. Song, Jiyeoun. “Economic Empowerment of Women as the Third Arrow of Abenomics.” Journal of International and Area Studies, vol. 22, no. 1, 2015, pp. 113–128., www.jstor.org/stable/43490283.
3. Chanlett-Avery, Emma; Nelson, Rebecca M., Womenomics in Japan: In Brief* Current Politics and Economics of Northern and Western Asia; Hauppauge23.4 (2014): 411-420.
4. Dalton, E 2017, 'Womenomics, 'Equality' and Abe's Neo-liberal strategy to make Japanese women shine', Social Science Japan Journal, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 95-105. 
5. Hasunuma, Linda C. "Gender Gaiatsu: An Institutional Perspective on Womenomics." US-Japan Women's Journal 48.1 (2015): 79-114.