The Mainichi Shimbun reported on the 7th that only 2% of Japanese companies pay higher wages for women than men among full-time workers in Japan.
This phenomenon was revealed as a result of Mainichi’s own analysis of about 1,129 companies that announced the wage gap between men and women in the “Company database promoting active female participation” compiled by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
In accordance with the revision of the Women’s Active Promotion Act in July last year, companies with 301 or more employees are obliged to disclose the wage difference between men and women, which is updated daily on the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare website.
The subject of disclosure is the wage difference between men and women divided into three categories: all employees, regular workers, and non-regular workers. Each company is required to make an announcement within approximately three months after the end of its business year. There are about 18,000 companies that are subject to the disclosure, and since there are many settlements at the end of March, it is expected that all companies subject to disclosure will be disclosed by summer. The 1,129 companies analyzed by the Mainichi Shimbun included companies with less than 300 employees that self-published. Companies that entered figures of less than 1% for wage differences were excluded as they were considered errors.
When looking at male wages at 100%, the places where female wages were higher than male wages were 133% for JAL Sky Airport Okinawa, a transportation company, and 106% for Hanshin Taxi, a total of 23 companies. Seven of them were hospitals and social welfare corporations.
By employment type, female regular workers accounted for 76% of male workers and non-regular workers accounted for 84%, narrowing the gap somewhat. Mainichi analyzed that the wage gap was smaller for non-management non-regular workers, and it widened to 71% overall, suggesting that the presence of more women in non-regular workers with low wages had an effect.
When analyzing the wage level of female full-time employees working in famous companies, ‘Kirin Beverage’, a beverage manufacturer, 75% compared to men, ‘Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Store’ 72%, and Japan trip 71%. Like ‘Akindo Sushiro’, which operates Japan’s largest conveyor belt sushi franchise ‘Sushiro’, women accounted for 78% of men in regular jobs, while women outnumbered men in part-time jobs with 101%.
By company size, large companies with a large number of employees tended to have a large wage gap. Companies with 1,001 or more employees accounted for 67% of men, but 74% of those with 101 to 300 employees. This seems to be because the larger the number of full-time male employees, the larger the number of management positions.
Mainichi said, “On average, women’s wage level was found to be 76% of that of men.” reported that
Some say that men in Japan spend less time at home and childcare than in the West, and more than 90% of part-time workers are women, so the ‘(work-family) balance support system’ should improve the company’s awareness that women should always use it. Or, it is pointed out that the low ratio of women in managerial positions should not be dismissed simply as a matter of women’s motivation.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.