Social Policy and Gender in Japan with Case Studies for Gender Relations at Several Workplaces

Research Project

Project/Area Number	09630062
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	経済政策(含経済事情)
Research Institution	HANNAN UNIVERSITY
Principal Investigator	FUKASAWA Kazuko Faculty of Economics, Hannan University, Professor, 経済学部, 教授 (30148572)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	CHIBA Etsuko Faculty Administration and Social Sciences, Fukushima University, Professor, 行政社会学部, 教授 (30217244) KIMOTO Kimiko Faculty of Social Science, Hitotsubashi University, Professor, 社会学部, 教授 (50127651)
Project Period (FY)	1997 – 1999
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 1999)
Budget Amount *help	¥1,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000) Fiscal Year 1999: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000) Fiscal Year 1998: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000) Fiscal Year 1997: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Keywords	feminisation of the labor force / M-shaped curve of the participation rates of Japanese female labor / social policy / occupational segregation by sex / women's entering into the traditionally men's jobs / affirmative action / gender in workplace / ソーシヤル・ポリシー / 男女間就職分離 / アファーマティプ・アクション / 労働におけるジュンダー / 非伝統的職種 / 女性の職域拡大 / 施行管理労働 / 施行管理労働におけるジェンダー / 農家女性の起業 / 労働力人口のフェミニゼーション / 性別職務分離 / 年齢別労働力化率 / M字型雇用 / 応用におけるジェンダー関係
Research Abstract	This research focuses on two points : firstly, why have Japanese social policies on female labor failed to give support to women in order to get rid of the M-shaped curve displayed by the female labor participation rate, while in many advanced countries they have already succeeded in it by at least early 1990s? ; secondly, how are jobs allocated between female and male labor at the workplaces? As to the former, by comparing to European and American social policies on female labor, we found that Japan has not played sufficient roles of the state as employers, orderers, anti-discrimination law makers, and supporters to women entering into the labor market, which many advanced countries have done in various ways for several decades. We recognized that one of the main problems of Japanese social policies on female labor is basically in the lack of the control of the state over private companies when offering equal opportunities and treatments, while even such market-oriented countries as the United States and Canada have developed a scheme called as an affirmative action. As regards the latter, the reason why we should know through case studies how jobs are allocated between female and male labor at the level of the workplace is that, as we think that many factors affect occupational/job segregation by sex which usually keep women being evaluated as the second labor force, we need to know exactly what kinds of measures (either through social policies or companies' management policies) to be taken at the workplace in order to bring both women and men equal opportunities and treatments at the workplace.