Originally published on the CGS blog on December 8, 2014.
Japan has begun implementing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s new strategy to revive its economy. Dubbed “Abenomics,” the plan – which includes printing more money and a huge buy-back of government bonds – has one key focus: women.
Slightly less than half of Japanese women participate in the workforce, making them a largely untapped resource in increasing the country’s productivity, outputs, and buying power. In fact, it is estimated that Japan could raise its GDP by as much as 14% if female participation in the workforce increased to 80%. Moreover, “‘higher female employment could actually help raise, not lower, fertility rates’,” helping to “insulate Japan from the impending economic challenges posed by its aging population.”
This is the logic behind Abe’s mission to “unleash the power of ‘womenomics,’” the idea that “a country that hires and promotes more women grows economically.” Some of his goals of pursuing womenomics include:
- Boosting female workforce participation from 68% to 73% by 2020
- Challenging Japanese corporations to have women in 30% of top managerial positions by 2020
- Having women occupy 30% of leadership positions in government by 2020 (though his government has only reached a rate of 3% so far)
Though many are skeptical of these goals’ feasibility, particularly when it comes to alleviating female poverty and overcoming Japanese norms toward women, others point to them as an important step in a broader movement toward gender equality. In particular, it is clear how the rapid increase in women’s education is creating drastic changes within the Muslim world. As countries make massive investments in education, gender gaps in achievement begin to disappear and women’s presence in the workforce increases as a result; this in turn creates a movement where “economics trumps culture.”
While these strides and successes are important and should be celebrated, they must not lead us to think the market will take care of everything; we are still quite far from a gender-equal world, especially in developing countries. Whereas in Japan the infrastructure and market incentives are already in place for economics to, in fact, trump culture, in the developing world they are less, well, developed. In India, for example, there is evidence of “occupational segregation,” where women tend to be grouped into specific industries like basic agriculture, sales and elementary services, and handicraft manufacturing, all of which have seen little or no job growth in recent years. While this is due in part to a lack of education, an equally important factor is entrenched culture of violence against women, a culture that will take government, not market, action to fix.
Although these changes ultimately need to come from the countries themselves, the US has a role to play internationally to build on the momentum of womenomics. By ratifying the Women’s Rights Treaty (CEDAW), the US will send a message to other countries that equal and humane treatment of women is a right, regardless of differing cultures or ideologies. Moreover, it’s a step toward building the institutions necessary for womenomics to evolve from an idea to a reality.
We must not forget those living the consequences of discrimination in the face of our own feminist achievements. As Heather Stewart notes:
‘Womenomics’ is not just about those who have fought their way to the top, but also those who remains [sic] trapped at the bottom.
