Two fact-finding surveys on progress towards a gender-equal society

In July, the Cabinet Office conducted an opinion poll on a gender-equal society. The poll was an interview survey targeting 5,000 people over the age of 20. Effective responses were sent in from 3,561 people (response rate: 71.2%).

The survey found that 47% of respondents agreed with the view that husbands should work outside the home, and wives should stay home and raise the family, about 10 percentage points lower than the 57.8% recorded in a similar survey conducted five years ago. By age, many people over the age of 60 agreed with this view, while many in their 20s to 40s disagreed.

As for sharing housework, however, of the 2,686 respondents who were either married or not married but living with a partner, 88.1%, 87.3%, 82.4%, and 80.9% said that their wives were in charge of washing, cooking, cleaning the house and doing the dishes, respectively.

These figures reveal that the respondents' views do not much affect their lifestyle.

At the end of August, moreover, the National Personnel Authority released the results of a fact-finding survey on maternal leave which it conducted targeting general national public employees. The results showed that, of those in a position to take maternal leave last fiscal year, 91.0% of women actually took it. This was the first time that the percentage topped 90% since the program was launched in FY1992. On the other hand, only 0.3% of the men took such leave, showing that very few men have actually taken advantage of this system.

When asked to cite the impediments to taking maternal leave, many people described the risk of reduced income; that their absence would hamper the implementation of their work; that it would jeopardize their rate of promotion, and other factors.

There are many things that must be reformed and improved to realize a gender-equal society. The obstacles that must be overcome are numerous, and include some that would appear to be almost impossible to resolve.

(Reference: JIF Vol. 23 Public Policy)