Gender and the Labor Market

Abstract

The position and working patterns of women in the Japanese labor market reflect both prevailing attitudes toward gender roles in Japanese society and economic change. With the recent rise in the number of female employees, an intense debate has focused on the position of women in the labor market, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1985 was one result of gradually changing attitudes. However, the problems that have developed since the act went into effect bring to light other issues of gender in the labor market that have yet to be tackled. Further complications are the current labor shortage, which began with the period of economic expansion in the midto late 1980s and has held up enforcement of the new law, and the serious labor shortage predicted to begin in the mid-1990s. This paper will examine changes in the position of women in the labor market, the effects of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, the family responsibilities and working patterns of women, and the changing nature of gender roles in Japan. I will try to identify a new combination of female and male working patterns based on gender roles in Japan and to offer suggestions for the future.