Social Policy, Norms of Work and Family, and Masculinity in Japan

• In Event: Gender in Comparative Politics

Abstract

To curb the falling birth rate and increase women’s labor force participation, the Japanese state has adopted, over the last few decades, numerous policies and programs to promote greater work-life balance, such as generous parental leave and access to child care. In spite of these efforts, women’s labor force participation is the lowest among advanced economies and the birth rate has not increased significantly. Why has social policy largely failed to alter social norms in Japan? In this paper, we attribute the gap between the objective of Japanese social policy and lived reality to one key failure: the unwillingness to reconceptualize and restructure masculinity and men’s roles. We compare Japan’s policy trajectory to Norway’s, where efforts to reshape men’s lives began in the early 1990s and have produced major social changes. Our paper is based on analysis of the Japanese General Social Survey and interviews with a cross-section of Japanese men and women. The paper is part of a larger project focused on legal change and women’s economic agency.

Authors

• Mala Htun, University of New Mexico

• Francesca R. Jensenius, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs

• Melanie Sayuri Sonntag, University of New Mexico