Abstract
In 2013, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe initiated a progressive plan to increase women’s employment and empowerment. The policy bears the title “Womenomics” and is a pillar of Abe’s economic growth strategy. Evidently, the recommendations of various international economic organizations have had a significant impact on shaping Abe’s new gender policy.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
AERA (19/11/2012): Kosodate to shigoto ryōritsu wa zeitaku ka [Is the reconciliation of family and professional life a luxury?], pp. 26–27.
Aronsson, Anne Stefanie (2015): Career Women in Contemporary Japan: Pursuing Identities, Fashioning Lives. New York: Routledge.
Assmann, Stephanie (2014): Gender Equality in Japan. The Equal Employment Opportunity Law Revisited. In: The Asia Pacific Journal, 12 (45, 2). http://www.japanfocus.org/-Stephanie-Assmann/4211/article.pdf (accessed 20/04/2015).
Atoh, Makoto (2008): Family Changes in the Context of Lowest-Low Fertility: The Case of Japan. In: International Journal of Japanese Sociology, 17, pp. 14–28.
Benson, John, Masae Yuasa and Philippe Debroux (2007): The Prospect for Gender Diversity in Japanese Employment. In: The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18 (5), pp. 890–907.
Bertelsmann Stiftung (2009): Social Affairs: Families Report. Sustainable Governance Indicators 2009. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung.
Blind, Georg D. and Stefania Lottanti von Mandach (2015): Decades Not Lost, But Won: Increased Employment, Higher Wages, and More Equal Opportunities in the Japanese Labour Market. In: Social Science Japan Journal 18 (1), winter 2015, pp. 63–88.
Boling, Patricia (2008): Demography, Culture, and Policy: Understanding Japan’s Low Fertility. In: Population and Development Review, 34 (2), June 2008, pp. 307–326.
Bloomberg Business (12/09/2014): IMF’s Lagarde Says Women Need Help to Save Japan’s Economy. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-09-12/imf-s-lagarde-says-women-need-help-to-save-japan-s-economy (accessed 20/04/2015).
Bloomberg Business Video (2013): Goldman’s Matsui Says Womenomics Key to Abe Plan. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/b/91e0798d-4e7d-4de0-94e8-dc82d7958ecb (accessed 20/04/2015).
Burgschweiger, Nadine (2014): Abenomics weiter auf Erfolgskurs? Japans Wirtschaft vor und nach der Konsumsteuer 2014 [Abenomics still on the path to success? Japan’s economy before and after the consumer tax 204]. In: David Chiavacci and Iris Wieczorek (eds.). Japan 2014: Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. München: Iudicium, pp. 125–145.
CAO (Cabinet Office) (2013): Basic Policies for Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform - Ending Deflation and Revitalizing the Economy (June 2013). http://www5.cao.go.jp/keizai1/2013/20130614_2013_basicpolicies_e.pdf (accessed 20/04/2015).
Chanlett-Avery, Emma (2014): “Womenomics” in Japan: In Brief. Congressional Research Service, R 43668. http://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R43668.pdf (accessed 25/04/2015).
Corbel, Amélie (2014): The Abe Government and the Gender Equality Issue. In: Japan Analysis, No. 34, July 2014, pp. 3–10. http://www.centreasia.eu/sites/default/files/publications_pdf/japan_analysis_34_en.pdf (accessed 19/12/2017).
Dalton, Emma (2017): Womenomics, ‘Equality’ and Abe’s Neo-liberal Strategy to Make Japanese Women Shine. In: Social Science Japan Journal 20 (1), pp. 95–105. https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyw043
FT (Financial Times) (19/04/2013): Abe Pushes for More Women in Senior Roles. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f13c8044-a8ee-11e2-a096-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2j66iZQPI (accessed 20/04/2015).
Fuwa, Makiko (2014): Work-Family Conflict and Attitudes Toward Marriage. In: Journal of Family Issues. Vol. 35 (6), pp. 731–754.
Geraghty, Kristina T. (2008): Taming the Paper Tiger: A Comparative Approach to Reforming Japanese Gender Equality Laws. In: Cornell International Law Journal, Band 41 (1), pp. 503–543
Haghirian, Parissa (2009): Japanese Women in International Management. In: Japan Spotlight, September/October 2009, pp. 46–47.
Haghirian, Parissa (2013): Gender Equality & ‘Abenomics’. In: Japan Spotlight, September/October 2013, pp. 39–42.
JapanGov (The Government of Japan) (2017): Abenomics. https://www.japan.go.jp/abenomics_userdata/abenomics/pdf/1711_abenomics.pdf/ (accessed 17/11/2017).
JILPT (Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training) (2000): The 2000 White Paper on Labour: A Summary of the Analysis. In: Japan Labor Bulletin, 39 (9), September 2000, pp. 20–27. http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/bulletin/documents/200009.pdf (accessed 30/10/2014).
JILPT (Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training) (2001): Best Use of General Clerical Workers. In: Japan Labor Bulletin, 40 (9), September 2001, pp. 3–4. http://www.jil.go.jp/english/ archives/bulletin/documents/200109.pdf (accessed 31/10/2014).
JILPT (Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training) (2014a): Labor Situation in Japan and Its Analysis: General Overview 2013/2014. http://www.jil.go.jp/english/lsj/general/2013-2014/all.pdf (accessed 25/04/2015).
JILPT (Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training) (2014b): Japanese Working Life Profile 2013/2014. II. Population/ Labor Force, 8. Labor Force Participation Rate by Sex and Age Group. http://www.jil.go.jp/english/jwl/2013-2014/02/p.17_2-8.pdf (accessed 25/04/2015).
JILPT (Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training) (2014c): Japanese Working Life Profile 2013/2014. III. Employment, 11. Labor Force Status. http://www.jil.go.jp/english/jwl/2013-2014/03/p.20_3-11.pdf (accessed 21/05/2015).
Johanson, Elena K. (2013): Rising Up on the Wings of Superwomen: A View on Abe’s Policies on Women with Kuniko Inoguchi, Member of the House of Councillors. In: Japan Spotlight, September/October 2013, pp. 34–38.
JT (Japan Times) (22/05/2013): Why Abenomics Hurts Women. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/05/22/commentary/why-abenomics-hurts-women/ (accessed 06/05/2015).
JT (Japan Times) (08/08/2013): Businesswomen Assemble in Odaiba to Close Gender Gap. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/08/national/businesswomen-assemble-in-odaiba-to-close-gender-gap/ (accessed 21/05/2015).
JT (Japan Times) (02/11/2013): Women’s Plight Getting Worse. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/11/02/editorials/womens-plight-getting-worse/#.VUnUhZNKZ4h (accessed 06/05/2015).
JT (Japan Times) (10/12/2013): Joe Biden Asked the Right Question About Women in Japan’s Workforce. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/12/10/commentary/joe-biden-asked-the-right-question-about-women-in-japans-workforce/#.UujyLLQwe70 (accessed 06/05/2015).
JT (Japan Times) (18/05/2014): Success of ‘Abenomics’ Hinges on Immigration Policy. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/18/national/success-abenomics-hinges-immigration-policy/#.U3yA4yhV6Kg (accessed 06/05/2015).
JT (Japan Times) (27/05/2014): Abe Vows to Get more Women into Workforce After Dismal Global Ranking. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/27/business/economy-business/abe-vows-get-women-workforce-dismal-global-ranking/#.VV2y1UZKZ4g (accessed 21/05/2015).
JT (Japan Times) (15/06/2014): ‘Womenomics’ Push Raises Suspicions For Lack of Reality. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/06/15/national/womenomics-push-raises-suspicions-lack-reality/#.VUnWApNKZ4h (accessed 06/05/2015).
JT (Japan Times) (24/06/2014): Cabinet Adopts Economic Plans. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/06/24/national/cabinet-adopts-economic-plans/#.VUnWUZNKZ4g (accessed 06/05/2015).
JT (Japan Times) (30/07/2014a): Aiming For More Women Managers. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/07/30/editorials/aiming-women-managers/#.VUnWv5NKZ4g (06/05/2015).
JT (Japan Times) (30/07/2014b): Japan’s Culture of Overtime Thwarts Abe’s Plans For More Working Moms. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/07/30/national/social-issues/japans-mmidnight-hours-thwart-abes-plans-working-moms/#.VUnXSZNKZ4g (accessed 06/05/2015).
JT (Japan Times) (10/05/2015): Much-needed Probe into Overwork. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/ opinion/2015/05/10/editorials/much-needed-probe-into-overwork/ (accessed 21/05/2015).
JT (Japan Times) (24/09/2016): Changing the Spousal Tax Break. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/09/24/editorials/changing-spousal-tax-break/#.Wgnq3keDO3c (accessed 11/10/2017).
Keizer, Arjan B. (2008): Non-Regular Employment in Japan: Continued and Renewed Dualities. In: Work, Employment & Society, 22 (3), pp. 407–425. http://wes.sagepub.com/content/22/3/407 (accessed 04/03/2014).
Keizer, Arjan B. (2009): Transformations In- and Outside the Internal Labour Market: Institutional Change and Continuity in Japanese Employment Practices. In: The International Journal of Human Resource Management 20 (7), pp. 1521–1535.
Lagarde, Christine (2014): The Economic Power of Women’s Empowerment. Keynote Speech by Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, Tokyo, 12/09/2014. http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2014/091214.htm (accessed 20/04/2015).
Lambert, Priscilla A. (2007): The Political Economy of Postwar Family Policy in Japan: Economic Imperatives and Electoral Incentives. In: Journal of Japanese Studies, 33 (1), pp. 1–28.
Macnaughtan, Helen (2015a): Womenomics for Japan: Is the Abe Policy for Gendered Employment Viable in an Era of Precarity? In: The Asia Pacific Journal, Vol. 13, Issue 12, No. 1, 01/03/2015. http://www.japanfocus.org/-Helen-Macnaughtan/4302/article.pdf (accessed 25/04/2015).
Macnaughtan, Helen (2015b): Abe’s Womenomics needs to include men too. In: East Asia Forum, 28 January 2015. URL: http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2015/01/28/abes-womenomics-needs-to-include-men-too/ (accessed 20/12/2017).
Macnaughtan, Helen (2015c): Is Abe’s womenomics working? In: East Asia Forum, 27 August 2015. URL: http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2015/08/27/is-abes-womenomics-working/ (accessed 20/12/2017).
Matsui, Kathy, Hiromi Suzuki, Yoko Ushio (1999): Women-omics: Buy the Female Economy. Japan Portfolio Strategy. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. 14/08/1999.
Matsui, Kathy, Hiromi Suzuki, Takashi Suwabe, Yoko Ushio, Mitsuya Nakata, Yohei Iwao (2005): Womenomics: Japan’s Hidden Asset. Japan Portfolio Strategy. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. 19/10/2005.
Matsui, Kathy, Hiromi Suzuki, Christopher Eoyang, Tsumugi Akiba, Kazunori Tatebe (2010): Womenomics 3.0: The Time is Now. Japan: Portfolio Strategy. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. 01/10/2010. http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/investing-in-women/bios-pdfs/womeno mics3_the_time_is_now_pdf.pdf (accessed 20/04/2015).
Matsui, Kathy, Hiromi Suzuki, Kazunori Tatebe, Tsumugi Akiba (2014): Womenomics 4.0: Time to Walk the Talk. Japan Portfolio Strategy. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. 30/05/2014. http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/outlook/womenomics4-folder/womenomics4-time-to-walk-the-talk.pdf (accessed 20/04/2015).
METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) (2015a): METI to Conduct the FY 2015 Nadeshiko Brand Initiative. http://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2015/1106_03.html (accessed 04/12/2017).
METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) (2015b): Nadeshiko meigara [Nadeshiko brand]. http://www.meti.go.jp/policy/economy/jinzai/diversity/pdf/nadeshiko2015.pdf (accessed 20/12/2017).
MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) (2015a): Statistics Japan. Table 2: Population Aged 15 Years Old and Over by Labour Force Status. http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/roudou/results/month/index.htm (accessed 25/04/2015).
MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) (2015b): Statistics Japan. Table 10: Population Aged 15 Years Old and Over by Age Group. http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/roudou/results/month/index.htm (accessed 25/04/2015).
MHLW (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) (2004): Kaisei rōdōsha haken hō no gaiyō [Outline of the Revised Worker Dispatch Law]. http://www.mhlw.go.jp/general/seido/anteikyoku/kaisei/dl/haken.pdf (accessed 03/12/2014).
MHLW (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) (2012): Hataraku josei no jōkyō [The Current Situation of Working Women]. http://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/koyoukintou/josei-jitsujo/dl/12b.pdf (accessed 29/04/2015).
MHLW (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) (2013): Equal Employment, Children and Families Bureau: Realizing a Society in which People Can Have Children and Raise Without any Undue Worries. http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/policy/children/children-childrearing/dl/equal_employment_children_and_families_bureau.pdf (accessed 12/05/2015).
MHLW (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) (2015): Shigoto to katei no ryōritsu shien ni tsuite [Support for the reconciliation of work and family]. http://www.mhlw.go.jp/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kodomo/shokuba_kosodate/dl/psbbwflj.pdf (accessed 29/04/2015).
Miller, Robbi Louise (2003): The Quiet Revolution: Japanese Women Working Around the Law. In: Harvard Women’s Law Journal, Vol. 26, pp. 163–215.
Miura, Mari (2012): Welfare through Work. Conservative Ideas, Partisan Dynamics, and Social Protection in Japan. Ithaca, London: Cornell University Press.
Nagase, Nobuko (2016): How to make Womenomics Work. In: East Asia Forum, 29 September 2016. URL: http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/09/29/how-to-make-womenomics-work/ (accessed 20/12/2017).
Nemoto, Kumiko (2008): Postponed Marriage: Exploring Women’s Views of Matrimony and Work in Japan. In: Gender & Society, 22 (2), pp. 219–237. http://gas.sagepub.com/content/22/2/219 (accessed 04/03/2014).
Nemoto, Kumiko (2010): Sexual Harassment and Gendered Organizational Culture in Japanese Firms. In: Research in the Sociology of Work, Band 20, pp. 203–225.
NAR (Nikkei Asian Review) (14/05/2017): Hope and Concern Greet First Foreign Housekeepers in Japan. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Trends/Hope-and-concern-greet-first-foreign-housekeepers-in-Japan?page=1, (accessed 10/12/2017).
NYT (New York Times) (02/01/2015): To Rescue Economy Japan Turns to Supermom. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/02/business/international/in-economic-revival-effort-japan-turns-to-its-women.html (accessed 20/04/2015).
Ochiai, Emiko (2008): Gender Roles and Childcare Networks in East and Southeast Asian Societies. In: Emiko Ochiai and Barbara Molony (eds.). Asia’s New Mothers. Crafting Gender Roles and Childcare Networks in East and Southeast Asian Societies. Folkestone: Gobal Oriental, pp. 31–70.
Ochiai, Emiko (2011): Unsustainable Societies: The Failure of Familialism in East Asia’s Compressed Modernity. In: Historical Social Research 36 (2011), 2, pp. 219–245. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12759/hsr.36.2011.2.219-245 (accessed 20/12/2017).
Ochiai, Emiko (2014): Leaving the West, Rejoining the East? Gender and Family in Japan’s Semi-Compressed Modernity. In: International Sociology, 29 (3), pp. 209–228.
OECD (2012): Gender Equality in Employment. In: Closing the Gender Gap: Act Now. OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264179370-5-en (accessed 20/04/2015).
OECD (2015): Employment Gender Wage Gap. In: OECDStats. http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=54751 (accessed 20/04/2015).
Osawa, Mari (2000): Government Approaches to Gender Equality in the Mid-1990s. In: Social Science Japan Journal, 3 (1), pp. 3–19.
Ōsawa, Mari (2002): Danjo kyōdō sankaku shakai o tsukuru [Creating a gender-equal society]. Tokyo: Nihon Hōsō Shuppan Kyōkai.
Osawa, Mari (2011): Social Security in Contemporary Japan. London, New York: Routledge.
Pascha, Werner, Patrick Köllner and Aurel Croissant (2014): Japan Report, Sustainable Governance Indicators. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung. http://www.sgi-network.org/docs/2014/country/SGI2014_Japan.pdf (accessed 25/04/2015).
PMOJ (Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet) (2013): Address by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at The Sixty-Eighth Session of The General Assembly of The United Nations, 26.09.2013. http://japan.kantei.go.jp/96_abe/statement/201309/26generaldebate_e.html (accessed 20/04/2015).
PMOJ (Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet) (2014a): The International Conference for Women in Business. http://japan.kantei.go.jp/96_abe/actions/201407/13article1.html (accessed 25/04/ 2015).
PMOJ (Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet) (2014b): Kagayaku josei ōen kaigi [The shining women support council]. http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/headline/kagayaku_women/ (accessed 25/04/2015).
Rockmann, Holger (2011): Demografischer Wandel in Japan und Deutschland. Bevölkerungspolitischer Paradigmenwechsel in der Familienpolitik. München: Iudicium.
Rothacher, Albrecht (2014): ‘Abenomics’ und die Shunto 2014: Der Einfluss von Einkommens-, Beschäftigungs-, Vermögens- und Bevölkerungsentwicklung für die Wachstumspolitik in Japan [Abenomics and the Shunto 2014: The influence of Income, employment, assets and the population development for growth policy in Japan]. In: David Chiavacci and Iris Wieczorek (eds.). Japan 2014: Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. München: Iudicium, pp. 177–200.
Sakamoto, Riwa (2013): Promoting Working Women in Japan. Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Economic and Social Policy Office. http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/events/2013/9/25-womenomics-japan/riwa-sakamoto-presentation.pdf (accessed 25/04/2015).
Schad-Seifert, Annette (2006): Coping with Low Fertility? Japan’s Government Measures for a Gender Equal Society. Tokyo: Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien / Stiftung D.G.I.A. https://www.dijtokyo.org/doc/WP0604-%20Schad.pdf (accessed 25/01/2018).
Schoppa, Leonard (2010): Exit, Voice, and Family Policy in Japan: Limited Changes Despite Broad Recognition of the Declining Fertility Problem. In: Journal of European Social Policy, 20 (5), pp. 422–432.
Schultz Lee, Kristen, Paula A. Tufis and Duane F. Alwin (2010): Separate Spheres or Increasing Equality? Changing Gender Beliefs in Postwar Japan. In: Journal of Marriage and Family, February 2010, 72 (1), pp. 184–201.
Seeleib-Kaiser, Martin and Tuuka Toivonen (2011): Between Reforms and Birth Rates: Germany, Japan and the Family Discourse. In: Social Politics Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 331–359.
Steinberg, Chad; Nakane, Masato (2012): Can Women Save Japan? International Monetary Fund Working Paper No. 12/248. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=40048.0 (accessed 20/04/2015).
Tachibanaki, Toshiaki (2010): The New Paradox For Japanese Women: Greater Choice, Greater Inequality. Tokyo: The International House of Japan.
Tanaka-Naji, Hiromi (2009): States Desire Versus Practice: Reviewing on Low Fertility Rates in Contemporary Japanese Society. In: Japanese Studies: Bulletin of the Japanese Studies Association of Australia, 29 (3), pp. 415–430.
TE (The Economist) (29/05/2014): Holding Back Half the Nation. http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21599763-womens-lowly-status-japanese-workplace-has-barely-improved-decades-and-country (accessed 20/04/2015).
Toivonen, Tuukka (2007): Is Japanese Family Policy Turning ‘Nordic’? Exposing Key Challenges for Japan’s Parental Leave and Child Care Schemes. Barnett Papers in Social Research 2007 (1), Oxford: University of Oxford.
Ueno, Chizuko (2010): Gender Equality and Multiculturalism under Japanese Neo-Liberalist Reform in the Era of Globalization. In: Tujimura Miyoko and Mari Osawa (eds.). Gender Equality in Multicultural Societies: Gender, Diversity, and Conviviality in the Age of Globalization. Sendai: Tohoku University Press, pp. 25–42.
WEF (World Economic Forum) (2013): The Global Gender Gap Report 2013. http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2013/ (accessed 20/04/2015).
Wingfield-Hayes, Rupert (2013): Japan/ The Worst Developed Country for Working Mothers? BBC News 22/03/2013. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21880124 (accessed 19/12/2017).
YouTube (2014): Kathy Matsui: Author of the First ‘Womenomics’ Report in 1999. Professional Luncheon, Foreign Correspondents’ Press Club, 09/07/2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY7cmQquflc (accessed 20/04/2015).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schad-Seifert, A. (2019). Womenomics: A Model for a New Family Policy in Japan?. In: Meier-Gräwe, U., Motozawa, M., Schad-Seifert, A. (eds) Family Life in Japan and Germany . Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-26638-7_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-26638-7_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer VS, Wiesbaden
Print ISBN: 978-3-658-26637-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-658-26638-7
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)