Closing the gender gap in Japan

The Japanese government is actively encouraging women to continue working after childbirth as it recognises that its female workforce is a crucial economic resource. - AP

GENDER equality is usually treated as a human rights issue, but Japan has also recognised it as an economic matter. Falling fertility rates, a shrinking labour pool and an ageing population have forced the government to take stock and recognise that women are an untapped and underutilised resource.

“Bringing women in Japan to full participation would mean a 9% bigger GDP, in other words, a richer Japan,” said World Bank chief executive officer Kristalina Georgieva in her keynote speech at the fourth World Assembly for Women (WAW) in Tokyo recently.