Gender (In)equality from Work- Family Policies: Sweden and Japan’s Path to Labor Market Participation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62327/m71k0fmdmzKeywords:
Gender, Work Family Policy, Japan, SwedenAbstract
While the implementation of work-family policies (WFP) has created procedures and nationwide programs that have increased work-life balance, thereby promoting female labor market participation, differences in countries’ respective institutional norms and welfare regimes limit the effectiveness of these policies. This discrepancy is evident in Sweden and Japan, two coordinated market economies (CMEs) that, despite both striving for maximum workforce participation and growth in female labor market involvement, have varying gender representation outcomes due to their different social democratic and conservative welfare regimes. My findings reveal how Sweden’s social democratic welfare system supports a dominant public sector that provides extensive benefits to families but simultaneously creates significant occupational segregation in the workforce. Conversely, Japan’s conservative welfare state, robust private sector, and demanding workplace norms hinder its WFP’s ability to encourage a balance between professional and domestic responsibilities, thus decreasing female representation in the workforce. This paper explores how the welfare regimes, normative structures, policy intents, and center-right and center-left political behaviors of Sweden and Japan impact the efficacy of their WFP. This paper also reveals the variations and shortcomings of CMEs, specifically that skill-specific economies hinder women from consistently engaging in professional and domestic responsibilities.
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