{"id":55386,"date":"2017-03-15T13:18:06","date_gmt":"2017-03-15T18:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=55386"},"modified":"2017-03-16T15:59:15","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T20:59:15","slug":"japan-womenomics-gender-equality-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/japan-womenomics-gender-equality-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Japan\u2019s ‘Womenomics’ work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Shen Lu and Rachel Newman<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tokyo <\/strong>— It\u2019s not news that women across the world feel a lack of equality, but in Japan, the problem is particularly pressing.<\/p>\n

Nearly 70 percent of Japanese women feel gender inequality — compared with the world average of 40 percent — three decades after the country enacted an equal employment law, according to a study<\/a> published last week by Ipsos MORI, a British research firm.<\/p>\n

\"Three
Three in four women around the world believe there are unequal rights in their country, according to a newly published study. (Shen Lu\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

The latest annual\u00a0glass-ceiling index<\/a>, published last week by The Economist, gave Japan the second-lowest score for gender equality in the labor market among 29 developed countries.<\/p>\n

While employers are no longer allowed to discriminate based on gender, today\u2019s Japanese women struggle to succeed professionally while fulfilling traditional family duties, experts said.<\/p>\n

Noelle Takahashi, 42, a politician and advocate for women\u2019s empowerment, said the expectation and pressure for Japanese women today is exceptionally high.<\/p>\n

\u201cJapanese women are expected to be a good wife and good mothers,\u201d said Takahashi. \u201cAnd if you get married, you are expected to cook well suddenly, and you are expected to have children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yaco Yoshikane, 30, a textile designer living and working in Tokyo, gives Japan a score of three points for women\u2019s rights in Japan, on a scale of one to 10 points. Though women\u2019s situations have been improving, they are still stymied by traditional gender expectations, she said.<\/p>\n

Womenomics<\/h2>\n

Japan\u2019s stagnating economy has been hampered by a shrinking work force as the population ages and the birth rate declines.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a conservative, has prioritized greater female labor participation since 2013 as an answer to a dwindling population. Yet progress has been painfully slow. Abe\u2019s agenda, known as \u201cwomenomics,\u201d could potentially boost Japan\u2019s GDP by 13 percent, according to a 2014 Goldman Sachs study<\/a>.<\/p>\n