To Work or Not to Work: The Dilemma of Japanese Women

This paper discusses the concept of Japanese womenomics and the dilemma Japanese women face regarding participation in the workforce. While the number of working women is higher than ever, vertical segregation (women have jobs whereas men have careers), conservative attitudes of employers and obsolete tax legislation aimed at keeping women out of regular employment have resulted in large numbers of women staying out of the labor force. Japanese women either have to work in non-regular jobs, with no benefits or prospects of advancement, or stay away from work and become full-time wives and mothers. The author challenges the possibility that Prime Minister Shinzou Abe's ambitious plan aimed for reviving Japan’s stagnating economy can 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 in the workforce, especially in leadership positions.