Housewives seeking part-time work squeezed out by surge in jobless

Housewives will become a thing of the past in Japan - middle income families will no longer be able to afford this luxury. Time for many more of the talented and capable women of this country to start seriously considering their careers after childbirth.

Why is it always so "all or nothing" here? You either have a full time, permanent, well paid, secure job - or you weed vacant lots - or so it seems. By all means get Mothers back to work - they are currently the most overeducated overqualified housewives I think I have ever seen - but what about job sharing? Part time work? (REAL part time work - like 10 to 2. Tokyo seems to think part time is "only" 9-5!) What about canning overtime (which in many cases is simply worker bees doing nothing during the day so they can earn time-and-a-half later) and having Daddy come home "early" (which anywhere else frankly would be "on time") so Mummy can do the evening shift at her local supermarket/coffee shop/bento processing factory.

It just seems win-win to me. you get fresher, more motivated, happier workers with a better work-life balance, happier Mothers because they have something else going on in their lives (not that the children arent wonderful but a change is as good as a rest) should they choose to, happier kids who get to see more of Daddy and get a break from a tired or stressed out Mummy, Mothers can work if they choose to or need to, their previous skills can be put to good use for the benefit of the economy.

Im no economist and I am sure I will now get shot down by the economists and the Mothers who want the right to stay home (note I said "should they choose to" before you crucify me!) - but these are just a few thoughts of mine.

cubic is right on. This housewife staying at home situation is unsustainable.

There is a huge army of unemployed University grads who have nothing to do.

Let's put them to work first.

Housewives can at least contribute by taking care of kids and managing household affairs if they stay at home.

It boggles my mind that people consider putting housewives into the labor pool when so many university grads are facing an Ice Age in their job hunting.

It boggles my mind that people consider putting housewives into the labor pool when so many university grads are facing an Ice Age in their job hunting.

I don't think it's the same market though, is it? Most new university graduates aren't looking for the same kind of work or hours as these housewives. And I don't think Uni grads will just take whatever they can get because a lot of them don't need to. They still live at home in many cases and will hold out for a "real" job. If they do take a part time unskilled job they are likely to be less committed than a housewife, quitting the moment a better more permanent offer comes along.

A mother with kids is not, in their eyes, a fully committed employee.

This is just the opinion of the writer with no real evidence to back it up.

She and others were displaced, she says, by 30 trainees from Pakistan and Bangladesh

This has nothing to do with joblessness. Just corporate greed.

Such is the nature of creeping poverty...

These people if I read correctly, have home loans and cars.

RecklessMay. 14, 2012 - 11:08AM JST

decent pay ot 900-1100/hour

Wow!! if I were you, I'd get out there job hunting. Gaba is offering pay of Y1500/hour, I hear. You'll notice the difference in your wage packet at the end of the month with that 30% increase.

I kind of agree with the people that say that this situation is probably restricted to rural areas where the jobs are usually in local family restaurants, factories and agriculture. I have been to Tokyo and Osaka this month and there are recruitment advertisements on the window of almost every shop, specially on restaurants, convenience stores and clothes shops. And the the same happens here in Nagoya.

This is probably a sign of how Japan's population is getting concentrated on the big cities, and by consequence the demand and supply needs are also shifting even more from the countryside to middle/big populated areas.

By contrast and as a way to counter this burden I am seeing that some housewives are studying foreign languages so they can get a "zaitaku" or in-house job as translators, mainly from English to Japanese which is the easiest for most people. Probably another good way for them to get a job would be to get some "kaigo" or nursing qualification so they can meet the huge demand that the countryside has on nursing for the elderly.

did you say decent pay t 900-1100/hour? .... better than nothing but.... decent?.........

"She and others were displaced, she says, by 30 trainees from Pakistan and Bangladesh – people willing or forced to work longer hours for less pay than the locals. "

This is currently a huge problem in Japan. I think a backlash against these people would be regrettable, but that's what the government seems to be setting us up for.

I think a backlash against these people would be regrettable

Not sure why Hojo gets thumbs downs here. Didnt say anything wrong and I agree, there will be a backlash if too many of these cases are cited. Not offending anyone, just saying it as I see it.

Okayama Prefecture, is where the first person lives...yeh no jobs in okayama

This is just the opinion of the writer with no real evidence to back it up.

You don't seem to know the facts as to how many women quit work once they have kids. Sadly, it isn't opinion. There IS evidence.

OMG, well said in both of your posts. Let the men come home earlier and PT jobs should be that, PT, not FT hours with PT benefits and wages. Thing is, as long as the 1.3 million cap is in place, women will continue to get paid less than they are worth because they don't want to go over the 1.3 and have to pay for their own pension/health care. Fair wages for all, not just the men.

Would-be working mothers are indeed taking jobs away from University grads.

Company's are trying to split what used to be regular full-time positions into part-time.

So as working mothers enter the labor pool they drain the available work for young graduates.

Expect to see the "Ice-age" continue and expand as more mothers foolishly enter the rat race.

Perhaps the moms who want to work could start up daycares? They'd make a mint!

Yup, daycare should be all about raking in the cash, another reason i was against the places for my children.

You don't seem to know the facts as to how many women quit work once they have kids.

You dont know what I know - but you miss the point anyway.

The writer isnt claiming women dont quit work once they have kids, the writer claims that employers believe A mother with kids is not a fully committed employee.

The writer fails to back up the statement with any evidence and hence it is merely unfounded opinion. If there is evidence to prove the writer correct, they do themselves a disservice by not providing it.

I guess I did miss your point. Mine was that employers don't think that mothers are committed. And they aren't based on the rates that quit once they get pregnant. Committed employees would take mat leave and be back. That doesn't happen in more than the majority of cases. You stated that was just opinion and there was no real evidence to back it up. Perhaps the writer thought people reading the article were well aware of the rates in which women stop working and don't return to their jobs once they have kids and didn't feel they had to write in stats and references?

It isn't merely unfounded opinion. It is based on stats that are commonly reported in the media here. Indeed, the writer DID do a disservice as you seem to think their comment is nothing but opinion. I'll give you that but it isn't unfounded opinion.

Here are the stats... Working mothers in Japan lists the info.

http://factsanddetails.com/japan.php?itemid=906&catid=24&subcatid=156

In a lot of the big prestigious companies, the percentage of seishain permanent workers is in serious decline while that of dispatch workers continues to grow. Why pay a full timer, so the logic goes, when you can get yourself somebody who already has a ton of experience garnered through working at half a dozen similar companies. At a quarter or less of the cost of a permanent worker, the temptation to keep going in this direction is only going to increase. Most labour unions are in-house and house-broken so any opposition is unlikely to come from them.

tmarie, I am struggling to understand what you mean. The article is not about whether women quit working once they have kids. It is about women who already have children getting back into paid work. The story implies that if a 37 year old woman with two kids went for a job, she would be hindered by the fact that she has children.

And I never said no evidence existed, merely that the writer didnt provide any. I am sure it is easily accessible and it would have helped strengthen the writers claims.

Having worked in the Service industry in Tokyo a long time and now in Karuizawa as a working daddy I thought I give my 2 yen's worth of opinion: Big town and countryside have different problems, but for most shops it's the same situation: Lunch time is very short on weekdays, but who likes to work only three hours per day or less when commute and changing clothes will take up about half an hour before and after? Food courts are mostly busy on weekends, not the best time for a mother with kids if she doesn't have a cooperating husband. As for commitment, I have seen many working-mothers and to me they are most time better and faster workers than their husbands would be because they are used to do stuff fast and juggle 3 different things at the same time. The problem is, when there is "The phone call" from daycare/ kindergarten/ school, they are expected by those institutions to drop everything and run to their child. Plus, kids get sick, no matter how busy mom is at work and some companies haven't taught their managers how to react quickly and flexible when the flu season is around and staff calls in for sick-leave for their kids.

As for my situation now, I work at a rather big company with a very good attitude toward part-time workers. And as there are quite a few working-mothers, there is no thought of "lacking commitment" when I phone in to tell them I have to take off because the kid got a cold with high temperature, but rather an encouraging "look well after her" from the manager.

Dent, my point is that employers are leery of hiring mothers because many women, over 50%, find out they are pregnant, they quit. How is that commitment? Hiring someone who has already quit because of kids? No thanks. They may quit again. What happens if they become pregnant again? They might quit. What happens if their child gets sick? They might want time off or they might quit. It isn't a fair system but I can 100% understand where they are coming from. If women were committed to their jobs (and Japan offered better mat leave), we wouldn't have this problem. Chicken and egg. Do companies not treat women well because they quit or do women quit because they aren't treated well.

Would you personally want to hire someone who had a good job before kids but took a few years off work to raise the kids? I don't think I would. Is that fair? Nope. But with the track rate of women quitting, women needing time off to care for their kids... They might be skilled at many things but they'd probably need a lot of training - which the uni students wouldn't need. That being said, and I know this sounds sexist and horrific (more so coming form a woman worried about job security and sexism in the workforce here) but I would much rather hire a younger man than a woman of any age. Men don't have tendency to quit jobs like the women here do. If this was Canada, the US, the UK, I would be saying the opposite.

If Japan could deal with the fact of men working overtime, not helping with their fair share of child care, this could change but as states by seawolf, when a call comes in about kids, who goes to the rescue? Mom in most cases. Not dad. Employers could easily see that as not being committed as crappy as that may be and as unfair as it is.

I live in Tokyo with my family and there are signs for part-time help EVERYWHERE

I live in Kansai and there are ads mostly in city centers, while the unemployed mothers with kids live mostly in remote suburbs in dormitory town (like 5000 little houses for 3 kombinis and a supermarket). If you go to these suburbs, and you talk to 10 housewives, with or without children, 8 will say they would like to work but they are not actively looking because they have tried many times and they couldn't find. Their husbands commute more than 1 hour both way, for a full day, their teiki is paid. But potential employers of part-time here in Osaka want people that live very close, to avoid paying transportation and to propose them reduced shifts. For instance, a restaurant wants a waitress only from 11 p.m to 2 p.m and then from 6 to 9 p.m. And the ads are permanently on the windows, but they don't necessarily need staff now, they want to see the person and collect CVs, so the day they need, they call a few and they fill the position in a few minutes. The rate is more often than none 700 yen/hour in services. 900/1000 yen has become the night rate, or it's in more inconvenient places, or special conditions (like working in a factory where you can access only by car, etc). There are many elderly working for 600 yen/hour, which is under the prefecture minimum, but they accept because they can't get anything else. How much do you think they pay the grandpas in fluorescent suits that regulate the traffic when they make works ? Or some get paid at the task, to dispatch pamphlets, papers, deliver stuff, but they are unlikely to make more than 500 yen per hour. And yes, foreigners accept even lesser conditions. I know Chinese housewives.They accept 2000 yen a shift, paid in cash, no paper, to work the full night in a Love Hotel. It's nearby. They tell me it's not tiring as they clean the rooms 2 hours in the night, the rest of the time, their job is to wait, they take little naps. If they have kids, at night, they are sleeping with the father or MIL, so no day care cost. I can't blame those that "discount" themselves, but the hourly rate are dropping dangerously.

A prospective employee who lists their hours of availability as from 9 until 3 is always going to be less preferred than someone who can work from 8 until 4. It's a simple fact. Non-standard work availability makes scheduling a royal pain in the patootie and most shift managers don't want to deal with the hassle when they have people willing to work standard shifts. I feel sorry for the mothers and understand why they can't work full shifts, but short of holding a gun to the employer's heads and forcing them to take these people, this will never change.

A prospective employee who lists their hours of availability as from 9 until 3 is always going to be less preferred than someone who can work from 8 until 4. It's a simple fact.

Not sure about that. 8-4 is an issue with school hours. 9-3 actually better as they can drop off and pick up kids with those hours.

I don't think it is a matter of holding a gun to people's heads. I think there is a need for women here to change their attitudes towards work. Until that happens, why should employees want to hire them?

i feel for them T___T it's hard finding work. even for the uni grads lol payed all that money for nothing. don't believe in the news that the economy is ok cause we're not its going to get worse.

this is just the beginning. wait till the bonds crash.

It boggles my mind that people consider putting housewives into the labor pool when so many university grads are facing an Ice Age in their job hunting.

If a mere housewife can compete with a university grad in job hunting, then their universities and education weren't worth much anything.

Some Japanese seem to believe that a mere name of the university should be enough for an employment. Real world is going to feel like a cold shower to these types.

I think it would be better to make more than ¥1.300,000 and lose the write off then to not make anything or slightly under that.

Japanese parents do not pay this absolute fortune on education so that their only son can work part-time in a conbini.

They do now, it's happening more and more. At my firm we are hiring more and more kids from overseas. Many of the Japanese grads come to us for an interview and have absolutely no clue about our industry and no relevant skills. Some do, and they are great, but it's not enough. The Chinese and Indian kids, on the other hand, they are hungry. They will study and study and learn about your company and come to an interview with suggestions and ideas. Instead of fear, I see a gleam in their eyes.

If a mere housewife can compete with a university grad

A mere housewife is a university grad, 10 years later.

Well said Paddy Smash. And all this enables the government to claim 4-5% unemployment. Wonder what the real figure would be if you stripped out all the temporary workers?

If a mere housewife can compete with a university grad

Many "mere housewives" I know have years of experience, masters degrees and higher, multitask efficiently, work faster and harder and have a lot more get up and go than todays uni grads. Theyve lived a bit of life and know the value of a good job.

Japanese Law thinks that private businesses should employ useless timewasters forever, pay their salaries, unnecessary overtime claims, health and pension contributions etc, but in return the employee does not have to do anything useful. That is why there are fewer and fewer full-time positions available in this country.

Well just look at how created these laws... They have to protect themselves somehow! ;)

I 100% agree with you on this and can understand it. Drives me buts that incompetent old geezers who don't do a damn thing have job security while those young hard working ones don't.

Cos, well said. 10 years on, no skills and no recent experience. No wonder no one wants to hire them!

10 years on, no skills and no recent experience. No wonder no one wants to hire them!

This bites but it is half-true at least. No skills - well, they may have had skills in their previous lives, but next to none of the current kindie mothers I know are even studying for their future - it doesnt seem to occur to them to take English, Accounting, Sales, Trading, Marketing courses and there are some really good 通信 ones around these days.

No recent experience - also true, but then to be fair they have been raising children. Think about it: you have a baby and leave. You have a second a couple of years later. By the time te second gets to elementary school 8-9 years will have passed. You cant really blame them - they are not sitting a home on their arses all day, they are actually raising children! How are they supposed to get recent experience?

Many women also dont choose to quit but are forced out - I know of several who returned to their previous positions to find themselves making tea, being forced out of meetings that are only held in the evenings, or are forced to take big salary drops that make working hardly worth it after you factor in the cost of daycare, tax breaks etc.

Dont disagree with what you are saying, but it really isnt all just lazy witches!

I am incredibly lucky to be able to work part time and choose my hours, thereby keeping my foot in the door and financing the MA I am starting later this year. But most Mums I know cant do that.

my girlfriend is a nurse and she stopped working full time and works only 5-6 night shifts a month now. they pay her 33000Yen for one night shift!!! no other country on this planet pays that much !!! day shift she gets 22000Yen for one shift plus travel expenses paid also.

nothing to complain in tokyo.

Whatever you do ladies, don`t tell them you have a child. Not their business.

OMG, it isn't just here that people are so lax with updating their skills. I could start in about a family member who is about to be made redundant who thinks she is "owed" something but if graduating now, would have a heck of a time even finding a job let alone a good one with her skills.

Uni here doesn't really teach skills. So 10 years out of uni with a pretty useless degree in the first place... not pretty. It isn't fair. It isn't fair that some women who didn't want to give up their jobs had to but the problem is so many women here are quick to throw in the towel - kids or not. Which is why those who want to keep their jobs have a hell of a time doing so.

Kids take up a hell of a lot of time but I know more than a few women who have been pregnant, had their baby and managed to do their MA or PHd AND work/be SAHMs. It can be done. More so when moms here often their kids in yochien. It is hard work but sometimes people rather make excuses than put the work into it. The options are limited though if you don't have a strong background in something - and lets be honest, very few women have strong skills when they graduate uni. Same goes for the males.

As far as I know, Japanese housewives always have side incomes, apart from their husbands salaries. Some ventured into Networking business, part-time work at Supermarkets etc...and of course, some date rich old men ...so what's the big fuss about those working housewives now..?

...and of course, some date rich old men ...so what's the big fuss about those working housewives now..?

There are no rich old men left!

Kids take up a hell of a lot of time but I know more than a few women who have been pregnant, had their baby and managed to do their MA or PHd AND work/be SAHMs. It can be done. More so when moms here often their kids in yochien. It is hard work but sometimes people rather make excuses than put the work into it

I run a free English class once or twice a month for the mothers in my kindie - kind of like my pro bono-slash-greasing the PTA wheels in the hope of an easier ride sort of work! About 24 out of 35 have signed up, and I regularly get about 20 coming - so it appears like they want to upskill, at least in English. But when I asked them recently on the topic of the future and using "I wanna" (eg I wanna go back to IT, I wanna be a saleswoman, I wanna go back to uni") I was met with blank stares. One woman - one - is doing a computer skills course (basic word, excel, that kind of thing) and one other wants to be a Yoga instructor. The others - no idea what is going to happen, and no plans with less one year to go for about half of them until we start elementary (the ones without younger children.) When I mentioned my MA plans they were "eraiiiii!" Its got shag-all to do with being erai, and everything to do with a future filled with expensive school fees I dont think my husband should be entirely burdened with while I sit on my ass.

But my point above is that not all women are like this. I know several (admittedly in the minority) who lost their jobs after getting pregnant or returning after mat leave. It is also difficult, at least in big cities, for both Mum and Dad to have high-flying careers. Grannies are less likely to live close by, and even if you do both want to work, full time work in Tokyo is rarely 9-5 which means the kids suffer if you dump them in daycare for 12, 14 hours a day - you may as well not have them in the first place. Most of the people I knew in daycare had one half of the couple with a highflying job (not always the Daddy either!) and one with a part time role, or couples running their own business and sharing the childcare between them. The thing is, for a lot of women it was all or nothing - they either have to go back on the same hours ad pay as before - or they have to quit. Therewas no flexibility given for working parents at all.

they pay her 33000Yen for one night shift!!!

Dayng! Not sure about the worldwide comparison, the Saudis make nurses into millionaires, but for Japan, that is as the locals would say - nice get!

As far as I know, Japanese housewives always have side incomes, apart from their husbands salaries. Some ventured into Networking business, part-time work at Supermarkets etc...and of course, some date rich old men ...so what's the big fuss about those working housewives now..?

Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors. I`ve been suprised more than a few times discovering fellow homemakers taking distance learning classes or engaged in serious language learning on the side. People are generally very private about such things cause it's really nobody's business is it?

OMG, the issue is that many women here seem to think that they don't "have" to work and it is seen as a hobby and something that should be 'easy". They can't be bothered to get skills nor work for them. Sorry but I am going to make some mass generalizations but here, many women think they are done "working" when they get married and have kids. No point in improving yourself because they think they are already at "game over, you win" when married and with kids. It certainly isn't true but until more people tell them they "have" to do something, they won't. They're generally lazy. I know I will take heat for saying that but this country has some of the laziest females I have ever seen in my life. One thing to be running around chasing a small child, cooking dinner... but when kids go to ele school, club, juku, mom is buying pre-cooked crap and not working or working a very easy job (and I was a cashier so I CAN comment on how easy it is) she is nothing but lazy and parasitic. One thing is she is volunteering, making things from scratch but most aren't.

9-5 isn't really a problem depending on the age of a child. Schools starts at 8:30 in most cases. Kids leave around 8:00. If mom or dad works close by, not an issue. School is done around 3:30 and then there is club until about 5:00. Many kids then go straight to juku for two-three hours. Mom/dad has plenty of time to get home and prepare dinner. I have friends that do just this.

The working conditions will never change unless women a) stop quit working when they get married/have kids and b) are seen as needed by the work force. Thing is, they aren't really "skilled" (some are but certainly not anywhere near 50%) so they are easily replaced. That is THEIR fault. If you are damn good at your job, are needed, can't easily be replaced... you won't be out in the cold. Thing is, that is just too "mendokusai" or "muzukashi" just as going to your english class is, taking computer classes is...

My step-mom was a SAHM who did a hell of a lot. I know what SAHM can and can't do. They can certainly do a lot more than they are credit for and can certainly do a HELL of a lot more than your average SAHM in Japan. Laziness and entitlement. (Oh I can feel the hate coming from posters already)

Sawako Yoshimura (a pseudonym, like all the names in this story)

WHY????

What bad thing could possibly happen if her REAL NAME were exposed?

There are no rich old men left!

Yes, there are, darling!

How would you like to make an old man very happy?

Lech, lech, lech ....

I believe the proper term is, "homemakers".

tmarie: Japanese women lazy? You gotta be kidding. Definitely not lazy

working mothers:::::: especially with young children..beware.. foreigners are here to take over ....no offense but its true.....but if you are consistent with your work the co. wont let you go.....i think there is a lot of reason reason.....why!!! still there are lots of works that only japanese can do ...

@tmarie - sorry maybe I wasnt clear. I meant 9-5 is a problem for the companies, not the women. Most working Mothers would love to be able to work 9-5,(and those hours suit perfectly) but most permanent jobs dont make it easy or possible. Maybe it is different elsewhere - I only really know Tokyo.

I absolutely take your point that some people just cant be arsed to work. However - it really isnt ALL of them!

tmarie: Japanese women lazy? You gotta be kidding. Definitely not lazy Really. Funny. I love at the ones that don't have kids who can't be bothered to work as lazy. There are many of them out there. Why do you think the birthrate is so low these days?

OMG, 9-5 is a problem for sure because companies don't work "9-5" like they state they do. More like 9-7 which is where the problem lies.

Indeed, it isn't all of them but enough of them which is why there is a growing problem. I feel sorry for the average hard working j woman. They get screwed. I can see why many of them move abroad. Had lunch today with a friend of mine who is considering packing up and leaving as she just can't handle the BS of being a j woman here. Who does she point the finger at? J women. And old, presidents that should have been long gone. Go figure.

still there are lots of works that only japanese can do ...

Such as???

They get screwed. I can see why many of them move abroad. Had lunch today with a friend of mine who is considering packing up and leaving as she just can't handle the BS of being a j woman here. Who does she point the finger at? J women. And old, presidents that should have been long gone. Go figure.

Sounds like a smart woman! Actually, until you said that, I never really thought about it too much but I have J female friends in the UK and roughly 50:50 are happy/not happy there. I always just put it down to different strokes, but now I think about it - there is almost a clean split between them: the happy ones are working, and the unhappy ones that want to come home are the housewives!

OMG, she's a smart one all right - and is just so fed up with women in her company quitting and screwing over HER career. Of course, the men who think she'll quit aren't helping matters but her company offers one year mat leave and is actually trying flex for working moms but yet, nope. Quit. I don't get it. If I was a parent, I would be demanding all the university money and fees I spent back!

The company I worked for years ago was run by a J female president. She was always bending my ear about wantingto give opportunities for women like she never had, and complaining when women in the office quit as soon as they found out they were pregnant. Then, when I got pregnant, she fired me! Said it didnt "look professional" as I had to go in front of clients. So much for opportunities for women then, hey?!

One woman told me a few years ago "But the purpose of going to university is to find a good husband". This was Japan, circa 2009. What she didnt realise is that she had pretty much verbatim quoted a line from Titanic - 1912!

Japanese women are brought up to know the difference in men and women and their roles in life. Anytime you invert or reverse a structured agenda, it is chaos, which is what we see in the western world. In the U.S. look at the divorce rate. In Japan, you hardly see a woman raise her voice at or talk disrespectfully at any man, even when the man is being a jerk. They maintain their composure and feminity and rather walk, not stump away. Once these Japanese men get married to their Japanese dream girls, and have children, all that games that the Japanese women put up with during the dating period, suddenly comes to an end. The relationship becomes difficult since they are not used to the confrontation.

OMG, Cleo has said that more than once on here! I find it sad that people still think that this day and age. Wake up and smell the insecurity in the economy!

SF, you might want to take a look at divorce rates here... Maintain composure and femininity? Spot the guy who isn't married!!

Yes, the relationship changes. The husband realises that he's married his mom, finds a girlfriend and angry wife does nothing but complain about hubby to her friends. or at least, this is what I've seen and heard.

Japanese women are brought up to know the difference in men and women and their roles in life.

And you're one who decides women's role, probably blasting it from the speakers in your black van?

Then I guess it's the women who put salarymen in their place by giving them their daily pocket money. Everybody in Japan seems to put everybody else in their "place". No wonder suicide rates are at the top of the world.