「国際女性の日」に寄せて

3月8日は、1975年に国連が定めた「国際女性の日」です。平和と安全、開発における役割の拡大、組織やコミュニティーにおける地位向上などによって、どこまで女性がその可能性を広げてきたかを確認すると同時に、今後のさらなる前進に向けて話し合う機会として設けた記念日です。

すべての女性が、自らの希望に応じ個性と能力を十分に発揮できる社会を実現することは安倍政権における最重要課題の一つです。あらゆる分野における女性活躍のため、様々な取組をこれまで進めてきました。 とりわけ、昨年、女性活躍のメインエンジンともいえる女性活躍推進法が完全施行されました。同法に基づき、大企業や国・地方公共団体における行動計画の策定・公表、女性の職業選択に役立つ情報の定期的な公表が義務付けられました。これまでになく踏み込んだ仕組みでしたが、経済界や労働界からも広く御理解をいただき、既に、国・地方公共団体においては100％、大企業では99.9％が行動計画を策定、公表しています。

また、「持続可能な開発目標（SDGs）」策定後初めてのサミット開催国として、昨年5月のG7伊勢志摩サミットにおいて、首脳会合及び全ての関係閣僚会合において女性活躍について議論するなど、我が国は、女性活躍推進の国際的機運をリードしてまいりました。
こうした取組は、着実に成果を挙げています。安倍政権発足後、約4年間で、国内の女性の就業者数が約150万人増え、また、上場企業の女性役員数も、2倍以上に増えました。さらに、これまで40％前後で推移していた女性の第一子出産前後の就業継続率が53％に大きく上昇しました。企業の幹部を目指す女性新入社員の割合が増加するなど、若い女性の意識も変化しています。

取組を更に進めるに当たり、最大かつ最優先の課題は「働き方改革」です。現在、総理を議長とする「働き方改革実現会議」において、長時間労働の是正、同一労働同一賃金の実現などについて働く人の立場・視点に立って議論を進めております。働きたいと願う女性が、子育てや家庭生活と両立を図りながら多様な働き方ができるように、選択肢を広げていくことが重要です。今月末には、具体的な計画を取りまとめ、改革を加速します。

女性活躍のうねりはより高まりをみせています。この機運を更に広く大きくしていくべく、たゆむことなく取組を進めてまいります。

平成29年3月

女性活躍担当大臣・内閣府特命担当大臣（男女共同参画）
加藤　勝信

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International Women’s Day
8th March 2017
Message by Katsunobu Kato
Minister in charge of Women’s Empowerment
Minister of State for Gender Equality

The 8th of March is International Women’s Day, recognized by the United Nations in 1975. This celebration was established as an opportunity to reaffirm the extent to which women have broadened their potential by playing larger roles in peace, security, and development, and enhancing their standing in organizations and communities, while at the same time discussing further progress for the future.

Creating a society where all women can fully express their individuality and exercise their abilities according to their own desires is a priority for the Abe administration, which has implemented various initiatives to encourage women’s active participation in a wide range of fields.

Above all, the Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace, which is the main engine driving empowerment of women in Japan, came into full force last year. The act makes it mandatory for large enterprises and national and local government organizations to develop and publish action plans, and periodically issue information useful to women in making career choices. This ground-breaking scheme has gained broad understanding in business and labor union circles, and action plans have already been drawn up and published by all national and local government organizations and 99.9% of large enterprises.

Empowerment of women was also discussed in the leaders’ summit and all related ministerial meetings as part of the G7 Ise-Shima Summit held in May last year, hosted by Japan as the first summit following formulation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Through such efforts, Japan has been a leader in creating international opportunities to promote the empowerment of women.

Such initiatives are steadily bringing results. In the four years since the Abe administration took office, the number of female workers in Japan has risen by around 1.5 million, and the number of women on the boards of listed companies has more than doubled. Moreover, the proportion of women continuing to work after the birth of their first child, which previously sat at around 40%, has jumped to 53%. The career aspirations of young women are also changing, with more new female recruits setting their sights on senior management positions.

Work-style reform is the biggest and most pressing issue for further advancing such initiatives. The Council for the Realization of Work Style Reform, chaired by the prime minister, is adopting the perspective of working people in its discussion of topics including changes to the practice of long working hours and realizing equal pay for equal work. It is important to offer broader options so that women who wish to work can do so in a range of styles enabling them to balance work with child-raising and other household responsibilities. The council will compile a concrete action plan at the end of this month and accelerate the pace of reforms.

The groundswell of women’s empowerment is growing. We will continue our tireless efforts to create greater and broader opportunities.