What is hindering the expansion of women’s participation in society?

Three decades have passed since the enactment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law in Japan, yet the advancement of women in society is arguably one of the slowest in the developed world. In recent years, female empowerment has been espoused by the Abe Administration, but the country still has a long way to go toward achieving true gender equality.

On the 18th of January, 2016, GRIPS had the pleasure of hosting female corporate executive Reiko Okutani to present the 120th GRIPS Forum in which she discussed her views regarding womens’ participation in the workforce of Japan.

Okutani cites archaic government policy as well as a dogmatic business culture for the lack of female empowerment. On the policy front, once such example Okutani cites is an archaic spousal tax deduction scheme the government offers which has had the adverse effect of discouraging many women from seeking full-time work. Introduced way back in 1961, the deduction cuts the taxable annual income of the household’s main earner by ¥380,000 if the dependent spouse is earning ¥1.03 million or less a year. The deduction effectively reduces a households’ taxable income so the main earner and the household pay less taxes overall. Hence it is no surprise that when Japanese couples crunch the numbers for the household budget, the more attractive option is for the wife to work sparingly – often in a part-time capacity.

Okutani believes the corporate world has had a hand in shutting women out of the workforce. In recent times, while cases of women breaking the glass ceiling in Japan are increasing, overall, Okutani feels the male dominated corporate world of Japan is dragging its feet. She laments the fact that the majority of companies remain stuck to outdated customs of expecting extremely long hours and a life-long, uninterrupted commitment from their workers. Okutani stresses that as long as life-time employment still forms the backbone of corporate culture in Japan, women will be held back, feeling discouraged from entering the workforce in the first place. Okutani refers back to pre-war Japan where women played productive roles – often in agriculture or manufacturing. She states that it was only after the war and subsequent period of high growth, where the clear delineation of duties based on gender became the norm. Today, in an era where companies undergo restructure and cost reduction strategies just to stay afloat, it is Okutani’s view that boardrooms across Japan must come to the realization that these traditional notions are no longer relevant nor productive, and that women can play a vital and dynamic role in the country’s future.

Okutani also cites how various countries around the world by accepting foreign workers, were able to realize the social advancement of women. She claims there is an urgent need for a national policy going forward to bring in workers from countries with abundant labor to effectively free up Japanese women so that they may earn a greater share of the wealth pie.

In 1982, Okutani launched a human resources company with the aim to foster more diversity in employment types based on the labor laws of the United States of which she had visited in the years prior. Increasing the number of women in the workforce was critical for Okutani. She fought old laws dating back to 1947, which proved extremely restrictive for Okutani in her ambition to change society for the better.

Moving to the situation today, Okutani notes that some progressive companies have adopted flex-time, shorter working hours, and work from home schemes. However the legislating for these new and diverse work types in terms of such things as workers compensation remains in its infancy.

So in amongst all of these hurdles, what exactly can one do? The audience in Soukairou Hall had many questions for Okutani. One particular father in the audience proffered;

‘Even if I wanted to become an ‘ikumen’ my company would never allow it.’

The term ‘ikumen’ is a recently coined term that refers to stay at home fathers who actively participate in raising their children and conduct household chores. It is a play on words taken from ikuji, Japanese for ‘child-raising’ and ‘men.’ The fathers’ situation is common in Japan where taking paternity leave is either not an option, or comes attached with a stigma.

Lastly, Okutani had this for the audience. She urged the many public officials in the audience to enact change where gender discrimination exists, and make society more egalitarian. To have such principles and beliefs is vital for the future of Japan.

Article by Public Relations Department, GRIPS.