The Japanese Family-Work Balance

in Comparative Perspective

Frances Rosenbluth

Dept of Political Science

Yale University

Overview

Working women face two sorts of constraints in balancing family and work that don’t concern most men:

In supplying their labor: Who will care for their childrenDemand for female labor: companies prefer not to hire or promote women for jobs that require long term investment and job continuity.

In Japan, the government helps with the first but the second remains a serious problem.Cross-national comparisons:

Japan is more like Europe because of long term labor market contracts which dampen the demand for female labor.The US has a better labor market for female employment, but women at the bottom of the income distribution are hurt.

Women in Japanese Labor MarketsThe M-Shaped Curve

Japan’s Childcare Provisions

Japan spends almost double per capita on childcare than the U.S.

In 2001, the U.S. federal government spent $4.4 billion with a population of 273 million compared to Japan’s $3.4 billion with a population of 120 million.

Corporate Demand for Female Labor is Stunted in Japan

Lifetime employment sounds like a boon to the economically vulnerable, but corporations avoid hiring and promoting women in jobs for which career interruptions reduce the investment in specific human capital.

Labor Markets are Changing

1994 Electoral Reforms reduce protection of long term bank loans that made lifetime labor contracts possible for many firms.

Job security is dropping in many industries, particularly in the service sector, which ironically makes women more attractive job candidates than before by reducing the expectation of lifetime human capital acquisition.

Are Japanese Women Going to Be Better Off?

Expect higher FLFP and more women in management as life time labor contracts wane.

The trade off in becoming more “Anglo-American”: more intra-gender wage inequality.

Conclusions

Childcare subsidies alone are insufficient to ensure female labor force participation if there are blockages in the demand for female labor.

An increase in the demand for female labor in Japan will narrow the gender gap as it widens a class divide.