The first rally for the International Women’s Day in Japan was celebrated on March 8, 1923, with an initiative by Yamakawa Kikue. It is 99 years since then; wages for female workers are still lower, and women are exposed to domestic violence and sexual harassment. Problems remain unresolved.
LET’S GO TOWARD GENDER EQUAL SOCIETY!
According to the statistics conducted by the National Tax Agency, the 2020 Salary Data in the Private Sector, the average annual income for male workers accounts 5.32 million yen, while the figure for female workers is 2.93 million yen. The majority of women work under the irregular employment status, and the average annual is calculated as low as 1.53 million yen. For women, approximately a half of them have begun their working life as a casual worker, meanwhile for male workers, the ratio is 30%.
Division of labor on the basis of sex
There lies an ideology behind the practice of lower wages for female workers; a division of roles on the basis of sex. According to the 2021 survey made by the Cabinet Office on the unconscious bias, 50.3% of male and 47.1% of female respondents answered that ‘men should earn money for a family’.
On the basis of paternalism, a job for women has been regarded as secondary that may complement the income of major earner. Thus, the wages for women have been kept lower.
Amid the pandemic of corona virus, essential workers are focused on; the majority of care workers are women and their wages are low, which further drops the wages of male workers down in the industry. The underlying idea is that it is unpaid for women to take care of children, the elderly and the sick at home.
The existing tax system and social insurance programs are built on the foundation that a family constitutes a major male breadwinner and a female housekeeper without a job. This mechanism hinders a woman to work independently in her life.
Under these circumstances emerges an awareness that men who earn more are in the higher status, which works as a basis for domestic violence and sexual harassment. Assertions like, ‘my wife is of my possession and so I can blow her down’ and ‘it is an error of wife who makes her husband angry’, are typical expressions.
Raise a women’s ratio in all activities
Attention is paid to a phrase ‘gender equality’ since it is presented as one of the SDGs, or sustainable development goals.
Gender means a socially and culturally formulated division of sexes; for instance, ‘a man should be like this’ and ‘a woman should be like that’, not referring to the physical distinctions. This type of preconceived ideas is led to gender-inequality and discrimination.
Let’s wipe out discrimination against women!
It is essential to raise a women’s ratio in the positions of leadership: women should involve in a decision-making process so that they may not be forced to live in accordance with the gender-bias. A first target is set as 30%. This means critical mass, which is not the majority though, a break-even-point where nobody can neglect. This target is the beginning.
Women should behave actively in all the organizations and in all the occasions in order to challenge the tasks. Let’s go out in the decision-making processes.
国税庁の２０２０年分民間給与実態統計調査によると、男性の平均年収は５３２万円、女性は２９３万円。女性労働者の過半数は非正規で平均年収は１５３万円でしかない。初めて就いた仕事が非正規雇用である割合は男性約３割、女性は約５割である。
性別分業が根底に
女性の低賃金の根底には、「性別役割分業」がある。21年度内閣府の性別による無意識の思い込み（アンコンシャス・バイアス）に関する調査によると「男性は仕事をして家計を支えるべき」と答えたのは男性50・３％、女性47・１％。
家父長制的思考に基づき、女性の労働は夫の収入を補助するものとして低く抑えられてきた。
コロナ禍で注目されたエッセンシャルワーカー。中でもケア労働者の多くが女性だが、保育・看護・介護は女性が家庭で無償で行っているからと低賃金を強いられ、同業の男性の賃金を引き下げる役割も果たしている。
男性稼ぎ主と専業主婦による家庭を前提とした税制や社会保険制度が、女性が「一人前」に働くことを妨げてもいる。
そして、この「多く稼ぐ男の方がエライ」という意識がＤＶやセクシャルハラスメントのベースにある。ＤＶ加害者の「妻は夫の所有物だから殴っても良い」「夫を怒らせる妻が悪い」などの言い分は、その典型だ。
女性比率を上げる
持続可能な開発目標（ＳＤＧｓ）の一つに掲げられたことにより「ジェンダー平等」という言葉が広まっている。
ジェンダーは身体的な性別ではなく、「男性はこうあるべき」「女性はこうすべき」といった社会的・文化的に形成された性別のこと。この先入観が、ジェンダー不平等や差別を生じさせている。
女性差別を解消し
ジェンダーによって生き方を強制されないためには、意思決定に関わる指導的立場の女性比率を上げることが必須。30％が女性参画の目標とされる。クリティカル・マス（量的変化が質的変化に転じる境目）、つまり集団の中で大多数ではなくても存在を無視できない分岐となる３割を、まずめざそうということだ。
課題の解決のために、女性たちはあらゆる組織、あらゆる場面で積極的に手を挙げよう。政策決定の場に出ていこう。
英訳版↓
No. 1248 International Women’s Day
The first rally for the International Women’s Day in Japan was celebrated on March 8, 1923, with an initiative by Yamakawa Kikue. It is 99 years since then; wages for female workers are still lower, and women are exposed to domestic violence and sexual harassment. Problems remain unresolved.
LET’S GO TOWARD GENDER EQUAL SOCIETY!
According to the statistics conducted by the National Tax Agency, the 2020 Salary Data in the Private Sector, the average annual income for male workers accounts 5.32 million yen, while the figure for female workers is 2.93 million yen. The majority of women work under the irregular employment status, and the average annual is calculated as low as 1.53 million yen. For women, approximately a half of them have begun their working life as a casual worker, meanwhile for male workers, the ratio is 30%.
Division of labor on the basis of sex
There lies an ideology behind the practice of lower wages for female workers; a division of roles on the basis of sex. According to the 2021 survey made by the Cabinet Office on the unconscious bias, 50.3% of male and 47.1% of female respondents answered that ‘men should earn money for a family’.
On the basis of paternalism, a job for women has been regarded as secondary that may complement the income of major earner. Thus, the wages for women have been kept lower.
Amid the pandemic of corona virus, essential workers are focused on; the majority of care workers are women and their wages are low, which further drops the wages of male workers down in the industry. The underlying idea is that it is unpaid for women to take care of children, the elderly and the sick at home.
The existing tax system and social insurance programs are built on the foundation that a family constitutes a major male breadwinner and a female housekeeper without a job. This mechanism hinders a woman to work independently in her life.
Under these circumstances emerges an awareness that men who earn more are in the higher status, which works as a basis for domestic violence and sexual harassment. Assertions like, ‘my wife is of my possession and so I can blow her down’ and ‘it is an error of wife who makes her husband angry’, are typical expressions.
Raise a women’s ratio in all activities
Attention is paid to a phrase ‘gender equality’ since it is presented as one of the SDGs, or sustainable development goals.
Gender means a socially and culturally formulated division of sexes; for instance, ‘a man should be like this’ and ‘a woman should be like that’, not referring to the physical distinctions. This type of preconceived ideas is led to gender-inequality and discrimination.
Let’s wipe out discrimination against women!
It is essential to raise a women’s ratio in the positions of leadership: women should involve in a decision-making process so that they may not be forced to live in accordance with the gender-bias. A first target is set as 30%. This means critical mass, which is not the majority though, a break-even-point where nobody can neglect. This target is the beginning.
Women should behave actively in all the organizations and in all the occasions in order to challenge the tasks. Let’s go out in the decision-making processes.
March 2, 2022