TO WORK OR NOT TO WORK? THE DILEMMA OF JAPANESE WOMEN
TO WORK OR NOT TO WORK? THE DILEMMA OF JAPANESE WOMEN

Summary/Abstract: The present paper discusses the concept of Japanese womenomics and the dilemma Japanese women are facing regarding participation in the workforce. The author argues that, while the number of working women is undoubtedly greater now than ever before, vertical segregation and conservative attitudes of employers, as well as obsolete tax legislation aimed at keeping women out of regular employment have resulted in large numbers of women staying out of the labor force. The article presents the two options Japanese women have: to work, most often in non-regular jobs, with no benefits or prospects of advancement, or to stay away from work (temporarily or permanently) and become full time wives and mothers. The author questions the possibility that Abe’s ambitious targets be attained without dismantling the obsolete system of gendered employment and in the absence of measures that genuinely protect and encourage a wider participation of women to the economic revival of the country.

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