The M-shaped distribution of working women becoming smoother

The 2002 edition of "The Actual Status of Working Women" (White Paper on Women's Labor) released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare revealed several conspicuous changes. Among these is the share of working women in the 30-34 age group (the period when the number of women in employment tends to fall because of marriage or childbirth) rose 1.5% to 60.3%, topping the 60% mark for the first time. Another is that the share for which women accounted in the total number of employees continued to grow, reaching 40.5%.

For comparison purposes, Japan's female labor force (the total of employed persons and totally unemployed persons) was 27.33 million in 2002, which was 270,000 fewer than the previous year, or down 1.0%. The number of female employed persons was 25.94 million, which was 350,000 fewer than the previous year, or down 1.5%. Similarly, the number of female employees decreased for the first time in three years to 21.61 million, which was 70,000 fewer than the previous year, or down 0.3%. Despite this, the proportion of women in the total number of employees continued to grow. This is attributable to the drastic drop in the number of male employees to 31.7 million, which was 310,000 fewer than the previous year, or down 1.0%.

If women's participation rate in labor force is illustrated in a table according to age, it shows a characteristic M-shaped pattern, with the early 20s and late 40s forming the two peaks of the letter "M." In 2002, because the labor force participation rate of women between the ages of 20 and 24 declined sharply (down 1.9 percentage points), the peak on the left had shifted, for the first time, from the 20-24 age group to the 25-29 age group (71.8%).

Incidentally, the 30-34 age group mentioned above corresponds to the base of this M-shaped curve. The growing number of women in this age group remaining in the workforce in recent years (and hence the recent swelling of the age group in M-shaped curve) has resulted in the acceleration of this M-shaped curve becoming smoother.

Citing the reasons for the bottom of the M-shaped curve becoming shorter, the White Paper reveals steady increases-from 26.3% in 1992 to 38.0% in 2002-in the percentage of women who choose to continue working after having children. The White Paper analysis concludes that, besides the growing number of women receiving higher education and not marrying, the changing trend may be influenced by the increasing willingness of women to work and raise a family at the same time.

Meanwhile, although women are becoming more outward-looking in terms of their career/occupation ambitions, the number of women charged with duties requiring high-level expertise and skills remains small. Therefore, their level of satisfaction was low with respect to "what form education/training and capacity development should take," and "what form personnel assessment and treatment/benefits should take."

The White Paper also identifies a variety of problems emerging in the context of the increasing diversification of people's working styles. These include the growing number of young people aged 20 to 24 who are becoming non-regular employees (e.g., part-time workers and temporary dispatched workers) instead of regular, full-time employees, and the growing gap in wages between regular and non-regular employees. (See JLF Vol. 17, Special Issue)