A. R. SAHAKYAN, Post-graduate student of the ISAA of the Lomonosov Moscow State University

Keywords: Japan, gender inequality, women's economic activity, labor resources, social infrastructure, "abenomics"

Demographic trends that have been observed in Japan for several decades are leading to dramatic changes in the age structure of the population (see figure 1). Having benefited from the demographic dividend of the rapidly growing working-age population between 1960 and 1980, Japan is now faced with the need to overcome the consequences of an unprecedented rapid aging of society.

The United Nations estimates that the proportion of people over the age of 65 in Japan's total population increased from 4.9% in 1950 to 23% in 2010, while those under the age of 15 declined by more than 2.5 times over the same period1. By the 2000s, Japanese society was already classified as "aged" and will probably continue to age at an impressive rate in the coming decades, as children of post-war baby booms will gradually reach retirement age. In 2050, the average age of Japanese people will be 53.4 years, while, for example, for residents of the United States, this figure will reach only from-

Figure 1. Changes in the gender and age structure of the Japanese population (1950-2010).

Source: Japan Bureau of Statistics. Gender and age pyramids of the population - http://www.stat.go.jp/data/ kokusei/2010/kouhou/useful/u01_z24.htm

* Data on the share of immigrants in the labor force in 2008.

Figure 2. The level of economic activity of women and the share of foreign citizens in the labor force in a number of OECD countries.

Источники: International Migration Outlook: SOPEMI 2011. Paris: OECD Publishing, 2011, p. 445; OECD Statistical Database. Labour Force Statistics. Short-Term Labour Market Statistics - http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=36324#

tags are 40.6 years old, in Canada and the UK - 43.3, in France-43.4, in Germany-51.5, in Italy-49.9.

These trends inevitably lead to a significant reduction in the size of the labor force. While in 2000 the number of Japanese people of working age (15-64 years) was 85.7 million, in 2010 it fell to 81.2 million, and by 2050, according to UN forecasts, it will fall to 55.2 million. This process threatens not only to slow down the country's economic growth, but may also lead to a curtailment of the overall scale of the national economy.

Nevertheless, Japan has a number of characteristics that put it in a better position compared to other developed countries, which also suffer from the loss of the demographic dividend. Thus, the level of economic activity of women and the scale of attracting immigrants to the labor market in this country is noticeably lower than the average indicators for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)* (see figure 2).

According to the International Labor Organization, only 47.8% of Japanese women were economically active in 2010 (compared to 62.9% in Canada, 58.3% in the United States, 55.4% in the United Kingdom, and 53.5% in Germany).². Moreover, in recent years, Japan has seen a downward trend in the proportion of women in the labor force. According to OECD estimates, foreigners account for only 0.3%, less than in any other developed country3. Thus, Japan has some reserve to make up for the declining number of working-age people from the beginning.

* One of the leading international organizations established to coordinate and develop a common economic policy of its member countries. 34 countries are members of the OECD: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Great Britain, USA (author's note).

Table 1

Women's educational attainment in a number of OECD countries

* PISA is an international program for assessing the educational achievements of school students.

Sources: The World Bank. Education statistics - http://datatopics.worldbank.org/education/EdstatsHome.aspx; Factbook 2013: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics. Paris: OECD Publishing, 2013, p. 179.

by stimulating women's economic activity and attracting labor from abroad.

However, the use of immigrants is a very sensitive issue for Japanese society due to a number of historically determined cultural characteristics, so the most promising way to combat the upcoming shortage of labor is to gradually include women in its composition.

At first glance, this task seems quite feasible, because Japanese women have all the necessary qualities that allow them to fully participate in the economic life of the country. Data from the World Bank (WB)show that today's young Japanese women devote more time to education than representatives of other most developed countries, surpassing even American women in this indicator, and show high results in international tests that assess the level of knowledge of students (see Table 1).

However, despite their education, many Japanese women prefer temporary employment and part-time employment, and some even devote themselves entirely to running a household. According to the World Bank, 37% of unemployed women in Japan have a university degree - a fairly high level for a developed country (in Spain-21%, in France-20%, in the UK-16%, in Italy-14%, in Germany-11%).⁴. Although, for example, in such large countries as Canada and the United States, this indicator is also quite high (39% and 52%, respectively). In addition, Japan differs from many other developed countries in that a large percentage of educated and economically active women work in family businesses and are not paid for their work.

There is a clear paradox - the high qualification of female personnel and the low level of their involvement in the labor force. Perhaps the main reason for this is the impressive degree of gender inequality in the country. Despite its established image as a cutting-edge power, the World Economic Forum (WEF)* estimates that Japan ranks 105th out of 136 countries in terms of gender inequality, compared to Cambodia and Nigeria.⁵ In terms of the size of the gender gap, Japan is second not only to all OECD member States (except Turkey and South Korea), but also to most developing countries, including Russia (see Table 2). An amazing position for a developed state!

Gender discrimination occurs to varying degrees in almost all areas of Japanese society. Among legislators, senior

* The WEF is a Swiss non-governmental organization established in 1971. The WEF has approximately 1,000 members. large companies from more than 50 countries around the world. She is known for organizing annual meetings in Davos to discuss major political and economic issues.

Table 2

Gender Gap Index (2013)

Source: Gender Gap Report 2013. WEF. Geneva, 2013, p. 12 - 13.

In Japan, women account for only 9% of all public officials and managers, ranking 106th out of a possible 113 in the WEF ranking, which indicates a serious violation of women's rights in making socially and economically significant decisions. In other developed countries, as well as in many developing countries, the representation of women in responsible positions is significantly higher: in the USA-43%, in France and Russia-39%, in the UK-35%, in Germany-30%, in China-17%.

In companies, women most often get positions of assistants and specialists, and if they fall into the category of managers, then most often they can rise through the career ladder no higher than a certain level, mainly in medium and small businesses. This is evidenced by data from the international consulting company McKinsey: the share of women on the boards of directors of Japanese companies is only 2%, and in the executive committees of corporations-1% (India - 5% and 3%, respectively; China-8% and 9%; Russia-9% and 11%; Italy-15% and 6%; USA -16% and 14%; Great Britain-17% and 15%; Germany -19% and 7%; France-27% and 9%⁶).

Women are often charged with performing various small tasks that no one would think to give to a man in the same official position, for example, serving coffee or copying documents. At the same time, paradoxically, women have fewer privileges and benefits.

Despite the fact that firms should provide them with parental leave, not all companies actually do this, especially if we are talking about small businesses. In recent years, the situation has changed for the better. If in 1996 only 36.4% of companies with more than 5 employees had implemented the maternity leave system, by 2002 their share had already grown to 61.4%, and in 2012 it was 72.4%. However, many women prefer not to take full advantage of these vacations, so as not to undermine their status at work and lose their qualifications. ⁷

The situation is aggravated by the insufficiently developed social infrastructure in Japan. The problem of lack of places in kindergartens and nurseries has long been the norm of modern Japanese reality.⁸ As a result, about 60% of working women in Japan stop their careers after the birth of their first child because they can't find a job.-

share her maternal responsibilities ⁹.

At the same time, the difference between the average earnings of men and women in Japan, as of 2011, is 27%. This is higher than in all other OECD ¹⁰ countries, which is certainly a demotivating factor that pushes Japanese women to make a choice in favor of running a household rather than building a career.

The situation of women in political decision-making is very poor. Despite the fact that Japanese women have formally had the same right to vote and be elected for more than 60 years, it was not until 1991 that women became vice-governors for the first time in Tokyo, Okinawa and Ishikawa prefectures, as well as Mayor of the city of Ashiya. According to the OECD, women occupy only 16.4% of jobs in the Japanese central government, which is significantly lower than in other member countries of the organization.

And in the Japanese Parliament, women account for only 10.8% of deputies - in terms of the level of representation of women in this body of state power, the country is on the 128th line of the Inter-Parliamentary Union rating* out of 147 possible. In Japan, only 39 of the 480 seats in the lower house of parliament are held by women, while 39 of the 236 seats are held in the upper house (China ranks 62nd, Saudi Arabia 76th, South Korea 92nd, and Russia 105th) ^.11

In the scientific field, it is also not easy for Japanese women to build a career. At the beginning of 2014, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan, the share of women in the total number of researchers in the country was only 14.4%¹². In comparison with America, the EU countries and other countries that play key roles on the world stage, this indicator is very low (in the US-33.6%, in the UK-37.7%, in Germany-26.7%). Even South Korea is ahead of Japan with 17.3%. And Russia stands out at all - in our country, women account for 41.2% of researchers.

The main obstacle on this path is the pressure of public opinion, which considers scientific research exclusively a man's business.

Among the teaching staff of Japanese universities, women are also a rare phenomenon: according to the UN (2006), their share is 18% of the total number of teachers (in Russia-57%, USA-45%, China-42%, Great Britain-41%, Spain-39%, Germany-35%, Italy - 34%, Yemen-16%, Cambodia-11%) ¹³.

Japanese society is particularly biased towards non-humanitarian professions. In 2012, 43% of places in Japanese universities were taken by girls, but in engineering and natural science departments they accounted for only 14.2% of students, while among students in humanities - 66%¹⁴.

The Japanese authorities have long made various attempts to correct the current state of affairs and reduce the level of gender inequality in the country. Back in 1947, the country's Constitution equalized the rights of women and men and recognized this as a fundamental principle of demographic legislation. At the same time, important amendments were made to the Civil Code and laws related to the electoral system, education and employment.

However, many provisions have not been implemented in practice. Before the International Year of Women (1975) and the Decade of Women (1975-1985), initiated by the United Nations, the country did not even have a clearly developed State policy in the field of gender equality. In the mid-1970s, some provisions of the Civil Code concerning the status of women were amended. For example, they acquired the right to keep their husband's surname after a divorce. In 1980, the inheritance system was changed: the criteria for dividing property were changed, according to which preference was given to spouses rather than children.

However, there is still a huge gap between the actual rights of men and women in Japan. Note that the Japanese authorities are aware of this problem and are looking for ways to solve it.

In 2003, J. Koizumi (Prime Minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006) declared one of the priority goals to be achieved in order to stimulate the country's economic growth-to increase the representation of women in decision - making positions to 30% by 2020.

The current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe takes an example from his predecessor. In June 2013, his government approved the "Revival Strategy", which listed the so-called three arrows of the program to revive the Japanese economy: aggressive monetary policy, flexible fiscal policy and structural reforms15. The document pays special attention to the need to increase women's economic activity: by 2020, the employment rate of women aged 25 to 44 should reach 73%¹⁶. It is planned to actively introduce flexible working hours at enterprises and develop the following services:-

* The Inter-Parliamentary Union is an international non-governmental organization established in 1889. It unites national parliamentary groups of more than 164 countries. author's note).

Abe has repeatedly stressed that he hopes for the positive effect of ^these measures and has high hopes for women's talents.

In fact, the words of the country's leader are still promises: Japan has slipped 15 lines down in the above-mentioned rating of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The deterioration of the situation in the field of gender equality in recent years is also reflected in the results of sociological studies. For example, in 2008, 18.8% of respondents to the Survey on Problems of Public Consciousness gave a positive assessment of "opportunities for women's social activity", while in 2013 only 13.7% gave a positive assessment ¹⁸.

No matter how much Abe makes loud statements, the stereotype that a woman should raise a child at home until the age of three is still very strong in Japanese society, even among politicians from the prime minister's own entourage.

Another major obstacle is the fear that increased economic activity among women may lead to an even greater drop in the birth rate, which will negatively affect the future size of the already declining labor force. I would like to point out that for developed countries, they may be unjustified: statistics indicate an inverse relationship - an increase in the birth rate in developed countries often accompanies the attraction of more women into the labor force. ¹⁹

This is probably due to the fact that in developed countries, parents strive to provide their children with a high standard of living and quality education, which requires considerable costs, and the presence of two sources of income gives them a sense of financial stability and confidence in the future, which inspires the birth of a second and third child.

Meanwhile, while Japanese women are waiting for the green light from society, the country continues to miss opportunities to use their abilities for its development. Goldman Sachs estimates that increasing women's employment to the same level as men in Japan could add about 8 million people to the labor force and potentially increase the country's GDP by 14% ²⁰. A larger number of women working for more pay means an increase in domestic demand, which will also have a positive impact on the country's economic growth rate.

* * *

Many economists note a positive correlation between the rate of economic growth and the degree of women's involvement in the country's economic life, their political and social activity. The author believes that the Japanese government should take this fact into account and take real steps towards modernizing the system of social institutions in order to reduce the gender gap that has formed, which could possibly give a new impetus to Japan's economic development.

¹ UN. World population prospects 2012 - http://esa.un.org/ unpd/wpp/index.htm

² ILO. LABORSTA, Economically Active Population Estimates and Projections 1990 - 2020 - http://laborsta.ilo.org/applv8/data/EAPEP/ eapep_ E.html

³ OECD Statistical Database. Labour Force Statistics. Short-Term Labour Market Statistics - http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx9queryid™ 36324#

⁴ World Bank. Gender Statistics - http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/gender-statistics

⁵ WEF. Gender Gap Report 2013. Geneva. 2013, p. 12 - 13.

⁶ Women Matter 2013. Paris: McKinsey & Company. 2013, p. 8.

⁷ Koe kinto: kihon te:ca 2012 (Basic Study of Equal Employment Opportunities, 2012). Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan. Tokyo, pp. 11-12.

⁸ Hoikujo nude:sho taiki jido:- su: 13/10 (Number of children on "waiting lists" for preschool institutions, October 2013). Ministry of Healthcare... - http://www.mhlw.go.jp/file/04-Houdouhappyou-11907000-Koyoukintoujidoukateikyoku-Hoi kuka/ 0000042027.pdf

⁹ 14 Shussei do: ko: kihon techa (Basic Study of fertility trends N 14). Ministry of Healthcare... Tokyo, pp. 13-14.

¹⁰ Employment Outlook 2013 Statistical Annex, OECD -http://www.oecd.org/employment/emp/employmentoutlookstatisticala nnex.htm

¹¹ Rating of the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the level of women's representation in Parliament, as of 1.02.2014 - http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm

¹² Wagakuni no kagaku gijutsu o sasaeru johei kenkyuhya (Women Researchers supporting Science and Technology in our country). Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan -http://www.stat.go.jp/data/kagaku/kekka/topics/pdf/tp80.pdf

¹³ World Bank. World Development Indicators http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators

¹⁴ Monbu kagaku to:kei 2013 (Statistics on Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 2013). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan - http://www.mext.go. jp/bmenu/toukei/002/002b/l337986.htm

¹⁵ For more information, see: Streltsov D. V. Will the arrows of "abenomics" hit the target? // Asia and Africa Today, 2014, N 3, 4. (Streltsov D. V. 2014. Popadut li strongly "abenomiki" v tsel? // Aziya i Afrika Segodnya. N 3, 4) (in Russian)

¹⁶ Nihon Saiko: Senryaku (Strategy for Japan's Rebirth). Office of the Prime Minister of Japan, p. 16 - http://www.kantei. go.jp/jp/singi/keizaisaisei/pdf/saikoujpn.pdf

¹⁷ Sehi shakai taisaku hakuse 2014 (White Paper of Countermeasures for Small-scale society 2014). Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan, Tokyo, p. 50.

¹⁸ Shakai ishiki-nikansuru eron chesa (Public Opinion Poll on Public Consciousness issues). Information Department at the Office of the Cabinet of Ministers - http://www8.cao.go.jp/survey/index-sha.html

¹⁹ Economically Active Population, Estimates and Projections 1990 - 2020. ILO, LABORSTA - http://laborsta.ilo.org/applv8/data/ EAPEP/eapep_E.html; UN. World population prospects 2012. Online Database.

²⁰ Women's Work: Driving the Economy. Goldman Sachs, p. 10 -http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/investing-in-women/rcsearch-articles/womens- work.pdf