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My Starting Story and Interests
My Starting Story and Interests
I am interested in the issue of working women having the burden of housework and childcare alone. My mother was a teacher who taught students at an academy. But after I was born, she became a stay-at-home mom. It was because there was no one to take care of me while working at the academy. My father did not help anything because he was tired after work. This problem is also happening in Japan. In 2017, Yuka Ogata attended a meeting of Kumamoto’s parliament with her baby. But other members forced her to take the baby out. But she had no place to leave her child while working. Looking at the photo of Yuka Ogata fighting alone against many male members, I found it difficult for women to balance working and housework/childcare in Japanese society. I decided to research why these difficulties arise in women.
My Research Focus
In order to understand the difficulties of working women and to meet their needs, the power of female lawmakers is needed. This is because they can see and understand women's problems that are invisible to male lawmakers. However, there are few female lawmakers in Japanese politics. It is difficult to come up with a helpful policy for working women in a parliament with many male lawmakers. Even if it comes out, there will be policies that do not exactly reflect women's needs. For example, women demand that their husbands have a chance to take a rest from work for a certain period and help with childcare. According to www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/Family-Friendly-Policies-Research_UNICEF_%202019.pdf , Japan was ranked as the No. 1 of paternity leave system in the world. However, according to www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/list/dl/71-r02/07.pdf , the acquisition rate of paternity leave is only 12.65 percent. Parliament failed to reflect the social situations and women's needs. I would like to focus on the cause-and-effect relationship that small number of female lawmakers leads to the problem that women cannot balance working and housework/childcare. There is a paternity leave as evidence.
My Research Questions
Q1. Why are there few female lawmakers?
Q2. How does the few female lawmakers affect men's inability to take paternity leave?
Q3. What solutions are needed to reduce the burden of housework and childcare for working women?
Stories of working women
Stories of working women
“地元愛知から両親に上京してもらったり、ベビーシッターを頼んだりしたが、どうしようもない時は議員会館の事務所に子連れで出勤をしていたという。事務所は、ジャングルジムやおもちゃを持ち込んで、「キッズスペース化」した。しかし、そのことが報じられるや否や「子どもがチョロチョロして議員の仕事ができるのか」「税金で賄われている施設なのにけしからん」「子どもがかわいそう」といった1500件に及ぶ非難の意見が届いたという。” (伊藤孝恵議員)
日本初の女性総理はどこにいる？ 女性議員を苦しめる永田町の「本音と建前」 | ハフポスト PROJECT (huffingtonpost.jp)
Stories of パタハラ
Stories of パタハラ
上司： 「なんで、男のおまえが育休なんて取るんだ。キャリアに傷がつくぞ」
Aさん： 「たかだか4カ月のブランクでキャリアに傷がつくとしたら、僕がそれまでの人間だったということです」
上司： 「子どもの教育費は何千万円もかかるんだぞ。いっぱい残業して金を稼ぐ。これが家長としてのあるべき姿だ！」
Aさん： 「うちの場合、妻の方が給料も高いので妻を世帯主にしているんです。僕は家長ではありません…」
上司： 「そういう問題じゃない！バカモノ」
(Aさん/40歳 )
Q1. Why are there few female lawmakers?
Q1. Why are there few female lawmakers?
1. The politics is considered a men’s world
There remains a perception that men should play politics because they are more rational than women. Therefore, woman do not think they deserves to be a politician themselves.
2. Low expectations of women in politics
Political parties or non-profit organizations often recommend or encourage election candidates, usually targeting men. Women are far less likely to get such recommendations. Even if women run for election, 「女性の声が必要だから選挙に出てくださいではなく、一人目が男だから並びで二人目は女みたいな候補者の立てられ方をする。」
3. Difficulty in balancing parliamentary activities and housework/childcare
If people run for election, they must do it from morning to night in front of the station. But if women have a child, they cannot do election activities for a long time. Even if they are elected, it is difficult to attend from morning conference(会議) to evening meetings(会合) because of housework and childcare. If they cannot attend meetings, become a ghost member and cannot act as a lawmaker.
Q2. How does the few female lawmakers affect men's inability to take paternity leave?
From Aさん’s experience, it is clear that men cannot take paternity leave at work easily. Japan's traditional company culture, such as seniority-based wage and lifetime employment, wants people to be loyal to their company for a long time. Because it is made up of such a system, if one person takes a break from work, it will interfere with the entire work of the company. Therefore, the boss makes a repressive atmosphere to prevent employees from taking paternity leave.
However, many male lawmakers feel no need to take paternity leave. In Japan's parliament, there are few female lawmakers, and most of them are old men. Old generations think "男性は外で働き、女性は内の責任を取る". They say that the paternity leave system is already good, so it is left to the individual's ability to use the system. Therefore, they do not recognize that the paternity leave cannot be used in daily life. Even lawmakers, who are representatives of the people, do not actively take parental leave, so people cannot find a good model to follow. In the end, men work for long hours in the company. Even if women work, housework and childcare are entirely up to themselves. Many Female lawmakers should take a seat in the parliament as much as male lawmakers, raise their voices, and improve the problems of the paternity leave system.
Q3. What solutions are needed to reduce the burden of housework and childcare for working women?
1. Rather than improving the system, people should move to change the atmosphere of 男性は外で働き、女性は内の責任を取る.
According to www.businessinsider.jp/post-205804, In 2020, Shinjiro Koizumi announced that he would take paternity leave. He spoke thus...
“どのように育休をとるかとても正直迷った。制度だけでなく、空気を変えないと、取得する公務員も増えていかない。私の育休をきっかけに、環境省の中でも、みんなが臆することなく、育休を取得しやすい働き方が進むように期待している”
It is necessary to change the coercive social atmosphere that prevents the taking paternity leave and shifting the use of the system to individual capabilities. Parliament members representing people should first actively take paternity leave to induce an atmosphere in which people can take paternity leave without any difficulty.
2. The quota system should be introduced to increase the number of female lawmakers.
According to www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/8/feature-rwanda-women-in-parliament ,"the road for women’s increased participation in politics in Rwanda was paved by the 2003 Constitution, which set aside a quota of 30 per cent women in all decision-making organs, including 24 of the 80 seats in the Lower House of Parliament. Those seats are elected by an innovative special electoral college composed of voters from local women’s councils and district councils. ”
Rwanda’s female lawmakers make up half of the parliament because of quota system now. So they can raise women’s voice widely and strongly.
What I've learned
What I've learned
Now the working-age population is decreasing due to 少子高齢化, and women are becoming highly educated. Japan wants more women to work actively. However, the burden of housework and childcare is still up to women, and most men are responsible for high-ranking positions even if men and women have same ability. I learned that women are not even guaranteed equal opportunities to demonstrate their abilities because expectations for men are higher than for women in anything. Therefore, it is difficult for women to take part in many specialized fields. They are expected only to do housework and childcare. Society expects working women raise their children as if they have no other job. In order to understand and solve women's problems, women representing women must raise their voices. However, there are few women in high positions enough to raise their voices in any field. The same is true of the political world. People have to know it is impossible to realize a real gender equality policy in a democrecy without women.
For women to work actively like men, and for the fair division of housework and childcare, more women should participate in politics and reflect women's opinions in policy strongly; what kind of difficulties working women are having and what they want. Moreover, I learned that if the system is not effective due to social prejudice or coercive atmosphere even if the system is in place (like the paternity leave system), high-ranking officials should practice it first and change the sexist atmosphere.
My new interests and questions
My new interests and questions
1. What do lawmakers need to actively take the paternity leave system?
2. What does it take for a woman who returns to work after childcare to get a full-time job at a desired company and actively do what she wants to do instead of staying part-time?
3. Due to the wage gap between men and women, husbands who hold economic power, often force their wives to focus on housework and childcare instead of working. What is needed to narrow the wage gap between men and women?
Sources of Information
Sources of Information
Japan has so few women politicians that when even one is gaffe-prone, it's damaging - CNN CNN, Emiko Jozuka and Yoko Wakatsuki, Oct 22, 2020
Revisiting Rwanda five years after record-breaking parliamentary elections | UN Women – Headquarters UN WOMEN, August 13, 2018
｢正直迷った｣末に小泉進次郎氏が育休取得へ、“空気読まずに”取る理由 | Business Insider Japan LIFE INSIDER, 横山耕太郎 & 滝川 麻衣子, Jan. 15, 2020
日本初の女性総理はどこにいる？ 女性議員を苦しめる永田町の「本音と建前」 | ハフポスト PROJECT (huffingtonpost.jp) HUFFPOST, Haruka Yosida, Oct 22, 2020
Family-Friendly-Policies-Research_UNICEF_ 2019.pdf (unicef-irc.org) UNICEF, Yekaterina Chzhen, Anna Gromada, Gwyther Rees, June 2019
「子どもを置いてほいほい出張するような女と結婚したお前が悪い」:男性の育休取得…｜NIKKEI STYLE IKKEI STYLE キャリア職場の知恵, 渥美由喜 Aug 5, 2013
01【案】リリース(R2年度雇用均等基本調査) (mhlw.go.jp) 厚生労働省, Sep 30, 2021
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