4. Women and the economy

(1) Action to remove wage gap between women and men

Article 4 of the Labour Standards Law prohibits wage discrimination based on sex.
As to the gap in average wages between men and women workers (excluding part-time workers), though it has been narrowing, the average wage actually paid to women workers was 63.1% of that paid to men workers in 1997.
This gap stems largely from the difference in duty(type and rank of job), length of service and educational background, and so on.
The difference in the field of work between men and women workers is partly attributable to the fact that women were not necessarily given as equal an opportunity as men.
The Ministry of Labour, therefore, has been endeavoring to realize the equal treatment of men and women and the steady expansion of women's field of work by prohibiting discrimination against women in recruitment/hiring and assignment and promotion, by prohibiting the practice of employment of "women only"or with "preferential treatment of women" that tended to fix women's job field and separate the duties of men and women, by revising the Equal Employment Opportunity Law, including the establishment of positive action provisions in the Law to diminish gaps between men and women workers, and by abolishing restrictions on overtime work, holiday work or night work by women.
As for measures to dissolve the difference in the length of service between men and women workers, the Ministry of Labour is promoting measures, including a child care and family care leave system, to harmonize Working Life with Family Life and to shorten working hours so that both men and women can continue work while caring for children and other family members and playing a role as a member of a family.
The Ministry of Labour is also promoting awareness-raising activities to get rid of the fixed ideas on the abilities of men and women and gender roles that lie behind the gaps between men and women.
As to the Labour Standards Law, the Ministry of Labour has been providing guidance to ensure proper implementation of the Law.

(2) The Low number of men who take child care leave

The Child Care Leave Law has been effective since it was first enacted on April 1, l992. According to a l996 survey, 60.8% of all businesses have introduced the Child Care Leave system, while 97.1% of all business with more than 500 employees observe the Child Care Leave Law, indicating that this Law is gaining wide acceptance.
However, the same survey results showed 99.2% of workers who took Child Care Leave were women, while men accounted for a mere 0.8%.
It is pointed out that this situation is caused by the stereotypical perspective of the role of women and men in society, which underlies the Japanese employment practice and corporate culture that emphasized work over family duties.
Recognizing that an efficient and diverse gender equal employment environment that is supported by a performance-based wage system which rewards individuals according to their ability and scope of responsibility irrespective of gender is indispensable for establishing a society where people can harmonize both family and work life, on December, l998, a government organized committee of experts studying the declining birthrate in Japan submitted a recommendation that called for the thorough revamping of all stereotypical perspectives of women's and men's role in society, and urged corporations to change their excessive emphasis on work over family.

(3) The impact of the prolonged recession on employment opportunities for women

Japan has been facing a prolonged structural recession in recent years due to the globalization of the economy and the Asian currency crisis.
Women as well as the middle-aged generation have been particularly hard hit by this prolonged recession.
According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Management of Coordination Agency, the unemployment rate of women as of November, l998 was 4.4%, the highest ever since 1953 when statistics became comparable. According to a survey taken by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labor, the job placement rate for students graduating from institutes of higher education in March, l998 was 93.3% for universities (down 1.2 points over the previous year) and 86.6% for junior colleges (down 3.9 points over the previous year) as of April, l998.
With less employment opportunities available to students, women are being particularly impacted with the rate of job placement at 90.5%, as opposed to 94.6% for men students, or 4.1 points lower than for men.