6. Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women

(1) Insufficient evaluation of impact from a gender perspective

In order to reflect gender perspectives in all policies, it is necessary to assess the impact of all policies from a gender perspective. Surveys and research on the development of methods of assessing impact from a gender perspective have been carried out since FY1999.

(2) Necessity of examining a neutral social system that allows individuals lifestyle choices

In Japan, many social systems and practices reflecting assumptions of fixed gender-based roles and differences in male and female positions even when there is no outward gender discrimination remain, and this often results in biased functions. As a result, the Plan for Gender Equality 2000 proposes comprehensive examination of various systems and practices affecting lifestyle choices such as the tax system, social insurance system, wage system and employment of women, from the viewpoint of neutrality of individual lifestyle choices, whilst considering fairness among various kinds of households and trends in other countries.
With respect to the provision of legislation on families, efforts made since 1991 to revise Civil Law's legislation on marriage by the Legislation Council of the Ministry of Justice resulted in a report submitted in 1996 entitled "Outline of a bill to revise a section of Civil Law".
However, public opinion on this issue is divided.
The results of a "Public Opinion Poll on Family Law" conducted in 1996 by the Prime Minister's Office indicated that it was difficult to claim that revision of the Civil Law had majority support.
Given that when these results are compared with those of previous surveys, support for the introduction of "a system allowing couples to have different surnames" has mainly increased among the younger generation, the government will continue to look carefully at trends in future opinion polls and to examine this matter.