Tokiko Shimizu, the Bank of Japan’s first female branch chief, says the country’s tendency to shield women from responsibility is what’s holding many back. At 45, the youngest among 32 regional heads, she is bucking the trend.
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Fewer Japanese women are in the labor market than their South Korean, American and Chinese counterparts, even as a shrinking workforce and aging population risks lowering the country’s economic output and increasing the social-welfare burden. More women are starting to take policy-making roles in Japan, though it’s a slow process, economist Naomi Fink said.
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In 2008, 49 percent of Japanese women aged 15 and older were part of the workforce, lower than South Korea’s 55 percent, the U.S.’s 60 percent and China’s 68 percent, according to World Bank data. Japan has barely made progress since 1980, when the female participation rate was 48 percent, while the U.S. ratio increased by 8 percentage points over the same period.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-17/bank-of-japan-s-first-female-branch-head-says-women-denied-work-experience.htmlI assume the extremely high percentage of Chinese women in the workforce is a legacy of socialist ideology [not that many can make it to the top].
