The Present Status of Gender Equality and Measures

  1. Family life and community life

    Age at which people first get married is late, while the marriage rate is high in Japan

    • A comparison of marriage rates of various countries (figures vary from 1994 to 1996 depending on the country) reveals that Japan has a rate of 6.4, while the USA and the Republic of Korea have the highest rates, with 8.9 and 7.1, respectively (Figure 10). The marriage rate for Japan according to 1998 statistics was 6.3 (estimated).

    Figure 10: Marriage rate by country
    Figure 10: Marriage rate by country

    Notes:

    The marriage rate denotes the number of marriages per thousand people per year.

    Source:

    Demographic Yearbook 1996, United Nations, Vital Statistics of Japan, Ministry of Health and Welfare

    Figure 11: Average marriage age of women by country
    Figure 11: Average marriage age of women by country

    Source:

    Recent Demographic Developments in Europe 1997, Council of Europe Source for Japan: Vital Statistics, Ministry of Health and Welfare

    Ratio of children born out of wedlock is far lower in Japan than in other countries

    • A trend of increase in the ratio of children born out of wedlock can be seen in all countries, including Japan, although the ratio in Japan, where, for the majority of people, marriage is a prerequisite for living together, is 1.4%-for a long period of time a far lower ratio than any other country (Figure 12).

    Figure 12: Ratio of children born out of wedlock by country
    Figure 12: Ratio of children born out of wedlock by country

    Source:

    Recent Demographic Developments in Europe 1997, Council of Europe Source for Japan: Vital Statistics, Ministry of Health and Welfare

    Low divorce rate in Japan

    • A comparison of the divorce rates of various countries (figures vary from 1994 to 1996 depending on the country) reveals that the lowest rates belong to Japan, followed by the Republic of Korea, with 1.66 (1996) and 1.19, respectively. However, according to 1998 statistics, there were 243,000 divorces in Japan and the divorce rate 1.94, the highest-ever figures. The divorce rate is now reaching European and American levels.

    Women with jobs perform the longest working hours in their early forties

    • The working hours of women with jobs decrease in their early thirties as time set aside for housework and child care greatly increases. However after this, housework hours and working hours both increase. As a result, working hours for women-both paid and unpaid-are longest between the ages of 40 to 44, where they amount to nine hours and 41 minutes (Figure 13). For men with jobs, there is no great change in terms of time set aside for housework, child care and family care, with working hours increasing and decreasing in line with time spent at work.

    Figure 13: Time spent working and doing housework by age group
    Women with jobs

    Men with jobs

    Women without jobs

    Men without jobs

    Source:

    Survey on Time Use and Leisure Activities (1996), Management and Coordination Agency