Inclusion of women in Japan's labor market is vital, Hoshi says

flickr global panorama japan pm shinzo abe 2013 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seen arriving at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in 2013.

 

On Sept. 3, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reshuffled his cabinet, bringing more than double the number of female ministers on board, in line with his pledge to revive the economy based in part on increased participation of women in business and politics.

Traditionally, Japan has provided tax and pension incentives for women to stay at home or work part-time; however, Mr. Abe seeks to change this and has laid out a plan in the “third arrow” of his administration’s economic policy.

Takeo Hoshi, an economist and director of the Japan Program at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, spoke with Deutsche Welle about the administration’s leadership shift and policy goals.

“Relying on women to work more is an excellent idea because the Japanese economy has underutilized women’s talents in the past,” he says.

The full article is available on Deutsche Welle online.