Pew study: Two different tales of women earners
It was reported that 40% of American working women are the main breadwinners in the US. Many women are entering workforce and more and more opportunities are offered to women. The report highlights successful, well-educated professional woman, who often earn more than their husbands. It is a real example of a mum that does both work and child-rearing. More women want to work full-time, and fewer say they'd not to work at all. There is little indication that this trend will reverse course. As mothers get engaged in work, it will be the father that would make more lunch boxes, organise play dates, fix the baby-sitting arrangements so that the mother can take the business trip or attend a meeting. It may be a great source of relief from financial pressure, but it may also be a source of tension because the traditional roles and values are shaken up.
The attitudes of people, however, seem to take longer to shift. Half of the people think that children are better off if mothers stay home, while 8% think the same way for fathers. Three-quarters (3/4!) say a marriage will be harder if a mother works even if it allows family to live more comfortably. It is a depressing statistics for highly-skilled women, but socially at least, this trend is becoming more accepted. The financial situations will also make it necessary for women to work, too.
So, what about Japan? The birthrate is continuously decreasing, gender roles still exist, the number of nannies and childcare facilities are in constant shortage, employees are forced to work overtime till very late.... There is few positive things that we can proudly mention. I read about the government plan to extend maternity leave to 3 years, and lots of opinions from citizens who are against it. They argue that extending it will not help that much, it might make it harder to go back to the workplace and work as they did three years back. Also, the more critical issue is overtime hours. There are still so many companies that forces their employees to work overtime and making them impossible to get involved in child-rearing and household chores. When my colleague told me about her experience in childbirth, she said she was extremely busy and tired from taking care of her kids and doing chores. What was the father doing?? He was always working overtime, came home at midnight, making little contribution to the family except the salary he earned. We cannot only blame the husbands because they have no choice. This working condition makes it almost impossible for a mother to work while raising a child alone especially when they are living apart from their parents and have nobody to rely on. Its' more of a social structural problem that is so deeply rooted in Japan's culture and custom that it is very hard to change in a blink of an eye. Moreover, it's sad and almost humiliating that despite people's long working hours, Japan's efficiency is the lowest among G8 (G20?) countries, which are more supportive to working parents.
I truly admire Japanese working mums, and would like to do something about them. If they like to /have to work, they must not be hindered. At least they can outsource chores more.
