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Japan: Despite economic need, women continue to be underrepresented

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Japan: Despite economic need, women continue to be underrepresented

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n next month's general election, politicians — nearly all of them men — will make promises on what they will do to fix the economic morass, but very few of them will mention the role of women in the workforce.

The country's problems are well known: more older people are living longer as the workforce that supports them gets smaller, resulting in rising welfare costs and a shrinking tax base.

An influx of immigrants would boost the number of workers, but Japan has little appetite for migration on a European scale. Observers say the answer lies within —get more of the nation's women to work.

Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, said last month that women could rescue Japan's chronically underperforming economy if more of them had jobs.

Read more at The Japan Times, published 24 November 2012.

News

n next month's general election, politicians — nearly all of them men — will make promises on what they will do to fix the economic morass, but very few of them will mention the role of women in the workforce.

The country's problems are well known: more older people are living longer as the workforce that supports them gets smaller, resulting in rising welfare costs and a shrinking tax base.

An influx of immigrants would boost the number of workers, but Japan has little appetite for migration on a European scale. Observers say the answer lies within —get more of the nation's women to work.

Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, said last month that women could rescue Japan's chronically underperforming economy if more of them had jobs.

Read more at The Japan Times, published 24 November 2012.

News