Labor Market Position of Women with Family Responsibilities in the Modern Information Society: Russia and Japan

Abstract

The article provides a comparative analysis of women employment in the labor market of Japan and Russia in the conditions of the modern information society. It is demonstrated that in Russia in the late twentieth century the share of female labor and the level of women’s economic activity were much higher than in Japan. However, given that in the conditions of the information society over the past few decades, both indicators are growing, and in Japan is growing more rapidly than in Russia, there is a tendency to gradual convergence the values ​​of the corresponding indicators for both countries. As a result, in the near future, the composition of the labor force in both countries may become gender parity. In connection with the employment of women in the labor market, special attention is paid to the issues related to combining performance of family and professional duties by women. It shows that in the conditions of the information society, which contributes to the development of new types and forms of employment, in modern Japan the problem of choosing a family and/or work is still particularly acute, which negatively affects the level of economic activity of women. However, there are prerequisites for smoothing the “double-humped” employment curve of Japanese women and the transition to the “European” model over the next few decades.

It is noted that in Russia the impact of women’s family responsibilities on economic activity is much less apparent than in Japan. Moreover, special attention is paid to the level of education. It is demonstrated that in the conditions of the modern information society the level of education of Russian and Japanese women is not inferior to the values of similar indicators for men. However, women are not full-fledged players in the labor market in both countries. In Russia, a woman’s education contributes mainly to successful employment in the labor market. In Japan, because of the historically stable gender distribution of roles, there is no objective opportunity for women to enter the labor market. It justifies the conclusion that the additional influx of women into the labor market will have a positive impact on the performance of the economy. In Japan, an increase in the number of women in the labor market can offset the decline in the total labor force in the short term. However, this will lead to a continuation of the decline in the birth rate, which in the long term will contribute to the further aging of the population. As a result, demographic and economic problems will become self-replicating.