Mar 06 (Nikkei) - Waves of day care closures caused by the coronavirus outbreak have disproportionally affected working mothers, especially those in their 30s.
The pandemic has made Japan's gender gap in child care, already much wider than those in the U.S. and Europe, worse by forcing more women to stay home to take care of their children. Many experts worry that unless this gap is corrected, labor participation by women will stall, worsening the country's labor shortage.
Location data on mobile phone users shows a marked decline in women's presence in Tokyo's business districts after a quasi-state of emergency took effect in the city on Jan. 21. According to data from Docomo Insight Marketing, the daytime traffic of men and women in their 30s and 50s in the city's major business centers moved almost in unison from late last year through early this year. But after the emergency measures were imposed, the number of women fell more than that of men -- 2 points more for those in their 30s. Among women, those in their 30s fell more than those in their 50s.
The diminished presence of women in business districts corresponded with an increase in the number of closures of day care centers. The number of nurseries that had closed due to the pandemic nationwide rose from seven on Jan. 6 to 777 on Feb. 3, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Shutdowns of elementary schools and their classes also surged in the same period.
In Japan, there is a wide gender gap in homemaking and child rearing. Women spend five time more hours on unpaid home chores than men in Japan, compared to about double in the U.S. and Europe, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Although the public has become more aware of the need for men to share child rearing, the number of men who actually take child care leave is not growing. ...continue reading
