Half of Japanese women workers fall victim to 'maternity harassment' after pregnancy
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Version 0 of 1. Half of working women in Japan say they suffered from harassment after they fell pregnant, with one in five saying they were dismissed, according to a survey by the country’s labour ministry. This level of discrimination comes as Japan faces a massive labour shortage that has hit economic growth in the country and contributed to Japan falling back into recession for the fourth time since the global financial crisis. Nearly half of women workers were subjected to “maternity harassment” by their superiors after they became pregnant, according to a labour ministry survey. Out of the 3,500 women surveyed aged between 25 and 44, more than one in five, or 20.5 per cent, said they were dismissed after they fell pregnant. While 17.1 per cent said they were unfairly treated in calculating employee bonuses. Another 15.9 per cent said they were forced to voluntarily retire or give up full-time contracts. This has left many feeling that they have to choose between having children or a career – leading to a decrease in the workforce. Some 40 per cent of the respondents said their harassers were male superiors, while 20 per cent said there were harassed by female superiors. Overall among the respondents, almost half were told they were “causing trouble” or encouraged to retire after they got pregnant Demoting or dismissing employee due to a pregnancy is prohibited by The Equal Employment Opportunity Law. According to the Economist when Japanese women have their first child, 70 per cent of them stop working for a decade or more, compared with just 30 per cent in the US. This is despite efforts by Prime Minister Abe to hold 30 per cent of senior jobs in all fields by 2020. Japan slipped into recession again between July to September. It's GDP shrank 0.8 per cent in the third quarter compared to a year earlier and 0.2 per cent on the previous quarter. The recession is Japan's fourth in five years. The data shows that Japan needs reforms to address a shrinking and ageing workforce, according to analysts. |