Photo Credit: Andrey Grushnikov, courtesy of pexels.com
Volume 1, Number 4| Op-Ed
Development, in Amartya Sen’s definition, is to reduce the unfreedom that limits a person to participate in social activities. Unfreedom is not limited to a direct prohibition, most of the time, unfreedom is an unspoken social pressure. One of the most obvious examples is gender inequality. Japan can be said to experience this issue that resulted in various phenomenon including a long existing trend of becoming a full-time housewife among Japanese women. The trend itself sound harmless, however, there are underlying explanation in the form of gender inequality.
On August 2018, Tokyo Medical University has admitted altering the entrance score of applicants in order to keep the portion of female medical students under 30% out of total and increase the number of male students for the past decade (McCurry, 2018). They claimed that their decision stems from the fact that female doctors tend to quit their jobs after having children and become full-time housewife. Even though it is true, can this be a legit reason for an action that is clearly a discrimination against women?
High number of full-time housewives can in turn reflect a serious issue of gender discrimination in Japan. Due to the country’s working culture, barrier occurs when women try to re-join the company and remaining as a full-time housewife becomes the only choice. Even though after a World War II, the number of Japanese women employments has increased, it is still not completely right to suggest that the gender gap in workforce is being fully eliminated. In 2017 gender gap index, Japan ranks 114 from 144 countries in economic participation and opportunity (World Economic Forum, 2017). According to Akira (2015), the increase in women employment rate from 1990 to 2015 is the result of a double in the number of women in part-time job, while the number of women in regular job dropped. With the high discrimination against women in workforce and intense working hour for a full-time job, many women with children choose to quit their job permanently. What Tokyo Medical University did, is in fact, a vicious cycle of discrimination that stems from another gender discrimination in the society.
Devoting their time to raising the children, is in fact, a wise decision. Studies have shown that mother’s presence and nurture in their early childhood is vital for children’s development. The development is then crucial for individual’s skill accumulation which can affect worker’s productivity in the future. As all are linked, a good beginning of child’s life can lead to a bright future of not only the individual itself, but also the nations. However, the problem arises when after staying home for a few years, until the children are old enough and less dependent on their mother, these women would want to go back to work only to find that it is impossible or almost to do so.
Gender gap in workforce has worsen the problem of aging society. Companies refuse to hire the aforementioned women with a reason that, housewives still have the responsibility towards their family, thus, they might not be able to meet the demand of full-time working content. The kind of mindset will do no good to Japan, which is facing a serious issue of aging society. With less birth rate, and higher average age of population, the country’s labor force is experiencing labor shortage. In long run, this can cause a stagnant economy.
The large number of full-time housewives in Japan has something more to it than just a social trend. In some aspect, it is a reasonable choice to do so, as raising a child is not a task that can be taken lightly. However, this social trend can also reflect a deeper problem in Japan society regarding gender inequality and future economic growth. Despite the fact that, the discrimination against gender is becoming more aware, and not as blatant as in the past or in other countries, it is not easy to change the mindset that has existed for a long time. If Japan can fix this problem, the country’s growth will be worth keeping an eye on.
References:
- Akira, K. (2015). Japanese Women Face Tough Reality in Work and Marriage. Nippon.com. Retrieved from https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a04601/
- (2017). The Global Gender Gap Report 2017. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
- McCurry, J. (2018). Tokyo medical school admits changing results to exclude women. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/08/tokyo-medical-school-admits-changing-results-to-exclude-women
