A major economic power and one of the supersonic nations, Japan, is drowning, with one of the lowest fertility rates and at same time, highest longevity rates.As a result, population is plummeting badly and becoming aligned to old people.
By 2060, the government estimates, there will be just 87 million people in Japan; nearly half of them will be over 65. Without a dramatic change in either the birthrate or its restrictive immigration policies, Japan simply won’t have enough workers to support its retirees, and will enter a demographic death spiral. Yet the babies aren’t coming. So, have Japanese given up on marriages?
Calling for Japan to take a more muscular stance on defense and security matters, it’s no surprise that Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s supporters tend to be ones with the testosterone.
So when the news emerged that Mr. Abe’s economic polices termed as “ Abenomics” has been redefined as ” Womenomics” , it comes with a little skepticism. So will women revive Japan economy? Will shift of women from bedroom to boardroom save Japan??
It is estimated that more than 70% of women leave jobs after giving births . So Creating an environment in which women find it comfortable to work is no longer a matter of choice instead a matter of the greatest urgency for Japan.
These ‘Womenomics’ policies promises to expand day care offerings and promote flexible work arrangements so that women would no longer have to choose between work and childbearing and challenges businesses to promote women to senior management. Though, the trends won’t change fast enough to prevent a real demographic crisis as Sooner or later Japan will have to face the necessity of immigration.
Wages have stagnated since the 1990s, while housing prices have shot up. A young Japanese man now has a good reason to not marry as, since standard of living is dropping immensely its difficult for him to support a wife and children — especially considering that his wife likely wouldn’t be working.
Like ‘Womaniyas’ of INDIA , In Japan, marriage usually ends a woman’s working career, even though most women are well educated. Once they have a child, women face strong social pressure to quit their jobs and assume very traditional roles, serving both the husband and the child. Mothers who want to keep working are stigmatized and usually find that employers won’t hire them. Child care is scarce and expensive, while Japan’s brutal work culture often demands that employees work more than 50 hours a week.
So a good start to tackle Japan’s problem is to boost female workforce .Japan could add 8.2 million people to its workforce and lift GDP by up to 15% by closing the gender gap in workforce, says a strategist at Goldman Sachs.
Now women are not considered as ‘BIRTH GIVING MACHINES’ but as ‘ BOOSTERS OF ECONOMY’. So there is more to ‘Womenomics‘ than keeping cows, which generally majority of rural women end up doing in India. So if any country like Japan, wants to revive its economy and boost its production with large amount of workers then it is all about empowering women.
