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	<< Back "DAWN" Newsletter of The DAWN CENTER Japanese Women in Their 30s Sawako Nagatomo Sawako Nagatomo, Associate Editor, AERA (a weekly magazine published by Asahi Shimbun) As a journalist, I have interviewed a lot of Japanese single women in their 30s, gathering information about them. Based on this, I am going to make an analysis of Japanese young women today. Japan has witnessed an unprecedented phenomenon in the postwar era. A large number of economically-independent single women have emerged. Today, 20% of women in their early 30s and 40% of women in their late 20s are single.(See Chart 1.) Kumiko (36), who works for a manufacturer, is single. "I thought I would be a full-time housewife. I never imagined myself working for such a long period of time." Around 1989, when Kumiko graduated from college, few women continued to work after marriage. In 1986, the Equal Employment Opportunity Law, which prohibits discrimination against women in employment, salary, job training and promotion, was enforced. Prior to this, women who wanted to continue to work after getting married were told to become a teacher or a civil servant. During job interviews, women were asked if they would resign when they married. Like many other young women, Kumiko believed that she would get married in her mid-20s and leave her job taking the path of kotobuki taishoku, celebrated resignation. At the time, women employees were considered prospective brides for their male counterparts, supposed to work only until they got married. Their wages were kept low and they were rarely given promotions or salary increases. They were required to live with their parents. If they left the company because of marriage, a premium was added to their retirement allowance and their co-workers celebrated with bunches of flowers. Under Japan's social system, taxes are imposed and social security benefits are distributed on a household basis, which accords privileged treatment to full-time housewives. Men are encouraged to work while women are urged to stay home to take up household chores and child rearing. Since the Equal Employment Opportunity Law was introduced, major companies have put male employees on the career track as candidates for senior managers, while assigning subordinate jobs to women as administrative assistants. When they hire new graduates, they allocate most career track jobs to men and a handful of women, giving the auxiliary jobs to women. Consequently, job differentiation between women and men still remains. Women in auxiliary jobs have few chances for job training or promotion and their wages are some 60% of their male counterparts. Kumiko entered her company three years after the Equal Employment Opportunity Law was enforced. Assigned to a subordinate job, she served tea, made photocopies, answered the phone, and sorted files. She sought neither improved treatment nor a more challenging position because she didn't plan to work for long. She spent time and money on after-work activities, including lessons in English conversation, tea ceremony, and flower arrangement, enjoying a life of an "office lady." At 29, she reached a turning point when she broke up with her boyfriend. At that time, her company was in the process of transferring hard-working employees from subordinate posts to career track jobs and Kumiko was one ofa few employees reassigned. Today, she works from nine in the morning until after eleven in the evening everyday. She often makes business trips in Japan and goes abroad on business several times a year. She now assumes heavy responsibilities but she is happy that she didn't quit. Singles who live with their parents even after they become full-fledged members of society are called "Parasite Singles" in Japan. The number of parasite singles is exceptionally large, partly because it is economically difficult for women to live on their own, as many of them are engaged in subordinate jobs with low wages and are required to live with their parents.(See Chart 2.) Singles who leave their parents' homes and live independently are called "Non-parasite Singles." Tomoko (35), who works as a section chief of a foreign-affiliated manufacturer, is a typical example. Four years ago, she bought a 2LDK secondhand apartment for 21 million yen (173,554 dollars, 1 dollar=121 yen) in the heart of Tokyo. As her salary increased because of a job change, she plans to repay her housing loan soon. In Tokyo, where rents are generally high, more and more single well-paid working women have bought apartments over the past decade. One of the reasons for this is that it is difficult for women to rent houses or apartments when they get older. Some women who bought their own apartments say, "I don't want to waste my money on a house which belongs to others. I want my own place." Others say, "When I get married, I can rent out the house and gain rental income." Tomoko's parents, who run their own business, always told her to become self-reliant. Tomoko is determined to work all her life. After she graduated from college, she joined a company, then resigned after three years in order to study abroad. After obtaining an MBA in the US, she came back to Japan and joined a foreign-affiliated consultancy firm, before moving to her current company. She is considering another job switch in the future. She has a worthwhile job and enough money to support herself. Sometimes she invites people to her home and has many single friends, both male and female. She plans to set up a sideline business in the near future. She doesn't have a steady boyfriend now and isn't looking for one. Her parents don't press her to get married or to have children. It is not that she has decided to remain single for the rest of her life, but she sometimes feels that she is now enjoying the life she wished for during her childhood. Tomoko is one of the new breed of working women multiplying in Japan. For economically independent Japanese single women, marriage is either "unwanted" or "optional." For those who want children, marriage is a necessity. For those who don't, marriage seems too disadvantageous. The most important reason for women remaining single is that Japan is still obsessed with the idea that men should work to earn money while women should stay home to do housework. Recently, with the number of working women increasing, the situation has deteriorated. Some men go so far as to say that women should work, do all the housework and raise their children, while all men do is work.(See Chart 1, page3.) Some men are also too busy with their jobs to share housework with their wives, even if they want to. This also is why a lot of women have left Japan. More and more women either marry foreigners, who don't push the idea that women should stay home to do housework, or find jobs abroad which will allow them to advance into senior positions. Kaori (38), a writer in New York, left Japan because she realized the limitations in working in Japan. After graduating from college, she worked as an office lady for a short period, though she wanted a job in the mass media. However, she neither graduated from top-rated college nor had business experience. Therefore, she chose to go to the United States to master English as a business weapon. After graduating with an MBA, she pondered whether to return to Japan, where in a traditional corporate culture a company hires a group of new graduates, makes them compete, and gives them raises and promotions at the same time. Kaori decided to stay in New York and started writing for the local Japanese media while doing translation and interpretation. She believed she could demonstrate her ability to the full, regardless of academic background, business experience, and sex. She says, "At present, I prefer New York, though I will have to go back to Japan someday." She worries about her parents in Japan, but she doesn't think any Japanese company will accept a single woman with her background. Japan's labor market is so inflexible that people have difficulty finding another full-time job if they quit their first job. As its wage system imposes long working hours on workers, women cannot juggle work and family. Women's wages are low, the number of childcare facilities is limited, new systems such as short-working hours and work-sharing don't yet function well, and men don't have the time to share housework and childcare with their wives, even if they wanted to. Many women want to enjoy their jobs, housework and child rearing. They want to live a life free from pressure on both men and women. Unless such a society becomes a reality, many Japanese women will neither marry nor have children and the number of economically independent unmarried women will surely continue to rise. Source:Census conducted in 2000 by Ministry of Public Management,Home Affairs,Post and Telecommunications Source:Annual Report on Health and Welfare,1996 Page Top Copyright (C) DawnCenter. All Rights Reserved.