A society where women will shine is a dream of women all over the world. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dreamt of this concept, considering the need for realization of a society where both women and men can "shine equally".
Twenty-four years ago, Kathy Matsui coined the term "Womenomics" to increase women's participation in the workforce as a better solution to Japan's economic stagnation. This concept was adopted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2013 as a label for his policies (Abenomics is Womenomics) to encourage and promote women to stay in the workforce. Kathy compared the women's low participation in the workforce to "running a marathon with one leg." To kickstart Japan's stagnant economy, the concept of Womenomics is a magnificent approach.
What is Womenomics?
Womenomics means Women + Economics, based on the idea of taking sufficient benefits of the skills and talents of half its population. Womenomics is a policy by which a country can boost its economy by getting more women into the workforce. The strategy is a powerful force that can develop a shrinking labour market, significantly increase GDP, and contribute to the health and well-being of society.
Why Japan adopted the
policy "Womenomics "?
A sound economic policy works better than political and sociocultural approaches. To support closing the gender gap, we must drive companies to spearhead new, holistic strategies for Womenomics within their respective industries.
Japan's female labour force participation rate was "M Curve" (White Paper for Women's Labour 2001). The M curve on a graph compares the employment rate of women in Japan by age group because employment is high for women in their 20s and 40s, while it is low for women in their 30s which is clearly shown in Figure 1.
Now what is the reason behind the
constant shape of the M Curve?
The M-shaped pattern female labour force participation rate marginalizes women's future workforce participation for two reasons. The first reason is social norms, and the second is corporate culture.
In 2013, when the labour force of Japan decreased by 4.5 million, the engagement of women and aged people increased by 2 million. The low birth rate is also a reason for the worker shortage (Japan's birth rate is only 1.46). To mitigate this shortage of workforce, the Abe administration adopted Womenomics as the reform to lock the gender gap and revive the economy after years of imperceptive growth. Therefore, the government has come to advance structural reforms boosting economic growth through procedures to motivate the participation of women in the Japanese labour force.
After adopting the Womenomics policy, employment-wise, female labour force participation went up from 62.7 per cent (in 1997) to 70.1 per cent (in 2015). But the influential position of female workers who are termed as non-regular workers is participating in low-wage and part-time jobs, while the wage gap was still the third highest in OECD countries in 2017. World Bank report (2021) depicts that the female labour force participation rate in Japan is 53.3 per cent, globally ranked 86th (out of 181), and the country's economic growth is only 1.62 per cent which is alarming.
Women's empowerment -Bangladesh
perspective
According to World Bank (2021) report, the female labour force participation rate in Bangladesh is 34.87 per cent (which is globally ranked 149th out of 181), against 36 per cent in 2019 and the country's economic growth is 6.94 per cent. Women's empowerment is not a goal; it is itself instrumental in facilitating overall economic, social, and political development in society. In Bangladesh, women are engaging themselves in many prospective arenas, fetching the country reputation in the world.
To ensure participation of women in the said process, they need to be empowered socially, economically, and politically. That is why modern social science termed women's development as women's empowerment. Empowerment of women is linked to total human emancipation. Women's empowerment is the precondition of proper social and economic development. Bangladesh's government formulated a 'National Policy for Advancement of women in 2011, declaring women's education essential for national development.
Status of Japan and Bangladesh
in the GGG Index 2022
The Global Gender Gap Index measures gender equality on a scale from 0 to 1 (inequality-equality) with four sub-indexes:
l Economic Participation and Opportunity
l Educational Attainment
l Health and Survival
lPolitical Empowerment
The Figure 2 shows that both countries' performances are weak in the Economic Participation and Opportunity sub-index. The index contains three concepts: 1. The Participation Gap, 2. The Remuneration Gap, and 3. The Advancement Gap. The participation gap grabbed the difference between women and men in labour force participation rates. The remuneration gap captured the ratio of wage equality for similar work and the estimated female-to-male income. Finally, the advancement gap apprehended the proportion of women to men among legislators, senior officials, and managers and the women-men ratio among technical and professional workers.
In the 2022 report, Japan's overall score was 0.65, with a rank of 116, whereas Bangladesh's score was 0.714, with a rank of 71. Japan ranked 83rd in the labour force participation rate, where the female-to-male ratio is 53.30/71.03. Bangladesh ranked 134th with a female-to-male ratio of 34.87/78.78. The other gaps portray Japan's rank (76th, 100th, 130th, and 0) and Bangladesh's rank (109th, 128th, 133rd, and 124th) respectively.
The performances of Japan and Bangladesh in the Educational Attainment sub-index and Health and Survival sub-index are commendable (near 1). Finally, in the Political Empowerment sub-index, Bangladesh scored 0.546 with a rank of 9, whereas Japan scored 0.061 with the 139th position. In Japan, the female-to-male ratio of Women in Parliament is 9.70/90.30, the ratio for Women in Ministerial Positions is 10.00/90.00, and their ratio for Years with Female/Male Head of State (Last 50) is 0/50, whereas Bangladesh's performance in these three segments is 20.90/79.10, 7.69/92.31, and 21.69/28.31 respectively. From this point of view, Bangladesh is ahead of Japan in Political Empowerment.
Can Womenomics save
Bangladesh's Economy?
Bangladesh is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and the second-largest economy in South Asia. The female labour force participation rate in Bangladesh has increased but is not up to the mark where it should be. A couple of barriers stop women from fully participating at work, including girls' education at low levels and unfavourable gender norms that limit women's mobility.
My research paper "Women's Empowerment-Economic Development nexus" highlights the bidirectional relationship between economic development and women's empowerment. Women's empowerment and economic development are interrelated. Women's empowerment is a byproduct of economic development, and the increased participation of women's decision-making has a direct bearing on a country's economic growth. In the case of labour force participation, education plays a strong role in determining the nature of employment taken up by women. So, all determinants of women's empowerment (Economic, socio-cultural, and political) are intertwined which affects significantly achieving economic development. Policymakers should be concerned with women's accessing better jobs by taking advantage of new labour market opportunities that arise as a country grows, which can contribute to the development process itself, beyond the standard labour force participation of women.
We can see a glimpse of Japan's Womenomics policy in Bangladesh. The Sheikh Hasina government took more initiatives for women's advancement in different sectors to show their skills, working with males hand-to-hand. Women (Specially Homemakers) are working in several online businesses and entrepreneurial jobs. During the period of Covid-19, more than 70 per cent (Facebook-based) and 65 per cent (Instagram-based) women-led businesses were set up in Bangladesh (According to Meta). A flagship programme titled (# She Means Business) is to be launched by Meta that provides women entrepreneurs with the digital skills needed to grow their audience and business. In Bangladesh, the recent success of the government of Sheikh Hasina is that it built the Padma Bridge with its funding and launched the First Metro Rail also driven by a woman, "Mariam Afiza", which set an unprecedented example of women's empowerment all over the world. A woman can not only lead a country but also be the captain of the ship being a housewife, mother, daughter, or sister. Bangladesh set a new pace of women's advancement.
To conclude, we can say with pride that the women of Bangladesh are getting empowered economically, socially, and politically. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is trying to materialise her Father (Bangabandhu)'s dream (Sonar Bangla) by taking strategies for women's enrollment in economic activities to achieve economic development. Similarly, Japan is trying to fulfill Abe's "Shine Equally" concept with Womenomics. Bangladesh is ahead of Japan in economic growth rates, but female participation in the workforce still lags behind Japan. The more women participate in economics, the more economic development a country achieves. Therefore, Womenomics can be the best policy to encourage and rejuvenate women not only in Japan but also in Bangladesh. This intensive programme can help women break through the glass ceiling. To emancipate women in the public sphere, the men need to share responsibility domestically. Pivotal policies and strategies are needed for women's participation in public spaces. The approach and the way of looking at women need to be changed. It is a myth that behind every successful man, there is a woman. But the day will come when the myth will be like this -- behind every successful woman, there is a man. In a society like this men and women will shine equally.
Soma Dhar, Ph.D. is Technical Advisor at AF Development Care, New Delhi, India.
soma.chowdhury7@yahoo.com