Precarious Working Mothers in Japan: Juggling everything with WORK in;

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By: Nery González

Creator:​Fanatic Studio ​Credit:​Getty Images/Collection Mix: Subjects RF

As a working mother, wife, and student, it was very difficult for me to keep my full-time
managerial job and at the same time dedicate myself to family,and some quality time. It was
hard for me to find a daycare that would be flexible with my work schedule. So I had a
conversation with my husband, and we decided that I would leave my full-time job to be with my
children and finish my education. This was a year ago and, I am currently enrolled in my
penultimate semester at California State University Monterey Bay (YAY! almost done). It has not
been easy managing school, family, house chores and now a part-time job ( since the bills piled
up) but, nevertheless, it has been a wild ride. Since I began school and now working again
finding daycare was very complicated after applying to many child centers, finally they accepted
my kids. This semester I enrolled in a Japnaese course (because it was a requirement, that I do
not regret) that talks about social issues. Of course, just like in other countries, Japanese
women struggle to be working moms Only 29% of Japanese women in there mid 20’s are in
managerial positions and this number drops even more for working moms with children under
the age of two. This means that working Japaneese women, especially those that are mothers
become precarious women (women at risk due to instability). But why exactly are they at risk?
How are they in a precarious state?
 There are many factors of why working mothers are at risk emotionally, and
economically. One of these factors would be being a woman in a male led workforce. With this
in mind, wages differ in the workforce. Although there have been significant measures to
combat gender descrimination in the workplace there is a wage gap in Japan. Kingston
mentions that, “Average wages for all women workers have been about 60 percent of the male
average overall, and 67 percent for full time workers as of 2010” (Kingston p168). In addition, to
the to the wage gap, the difference between contract work, regular-work and part-time work is
also a major problem for these women. All these tend to be the same in amount of
responsibilities, hours of work but are not given the benefits. Many working mothers get contract
work and part-time work which is often the same work as regular workers but contract workers
can be laid off more easily as seen as part-time workers. All this put the working mother in an
unstable position.

Another factor to the precarity of working mothers is underrepresentation in different

labor markets. For example women in management in Japan, are in a risky position since
managerial jobs is usually oriented towards male workers. These men simply rely on their wives
to help with their children and do all the housework. Working mothers in Japan that are in
management struggle to juggle between their managerial responsibilities and hectic work
schedule and then their log working days while raising their children. The fact is that they have
to choose between their careers or their children. This resonated with me as I was reading this
information and I was mesmerized that my own experience was similar to women in Japan. As a
business manager it was very hard to juggle with my work schedule and being with my kids of
course I chose to be with my children because I had the support of my family. When I made
this decision to leave my full-time managerial job I became a stay at home mom of two. I had
two degrees and was a manager for several years and did decide to put my career on hold to
raise my children that are still very very young. But that was my choice and it’s also a luxury to
do so but it’s tough. I'm glad I’m spending time with my kids and finishing my baccalaureate
education but I dread the day I’ll have to get back into the workforce because I know society
won’t accept me easily, I say this because im getting much older and now a baccalaureate
degree is not enough.

As for women in Japan they fall in a risky situation, Why? Because the Japanese
employment system is created and focuses on continuous work and it penalizes them taking a
year hiatus, this means that women are not normally able to resume their careers and assume
the same position in the corporation as they had when they left to take their maternity leave. As
corporate policies are inadequate and don't offer much help with working mothers, many women
drop off the career track, withdraw from employment to raise children, and then return usually
on a part-time basis. These policy failures have put women’s careers at risk therefore, women
become precarious because they have to dilute their skills and abilities.
 Works Cited

Kingston, Jeff. ​Contemporary Japan: History, Politics, and Social Change since the1980s​.
2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons, 2013.