December 21, 2021
Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Yamazoe Taku at a House Budget Committee meeting on December 20 demanded that the government oblige each company to make public their wage differences between male and female employees.
Yamazoe revealed that a gap in wages between men and women, including non-regular workers, amounts to 2.4 million yen a year on average, and that the wage gap over a 40-year career reaches about 100 million yen.
Yamazoe pointed out that the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace does not oblige corporations to make public their gender difference in wages and does not even oblige them to note the difference. Labor Minister Goto Shigeyuki said that seven out of 27,526 companies which had made an action plan based on the law set a goal of making gender differences in wages known to the public. Yamazoe in response said, "Only seven out of the 27,526 means almost none. Without knowing which company has a gender gap in wages, the government cannot direct the company to rectify the wage disparity."
Yamazoe asked about efforts in other counties to correct discrepancies in wages between men and women. Noda Seiko, minister in charge of gender equality, answered that companies in the U.K., France, and Germany are required to disclose wage differentials between men and women in their workplaces and to submit a report on equal pay. Noting that the European Union in March issued a directive to enhance pay transparency, Yamazoe said, "The EU nations, where a 14% gender gap in wages is the norm, there is a push for greater transparency in wages. In contrast, in Japan, it amounts to a 25% gap even between male regular employees and female regular employees." He emphasized the need to increase pay transparency in Japan as well."
Past related article:
> Japan ranks lowest among G7 counties in gender equality in economic rights [February 26, 2021]
Yamazoe revealed that a gap in wages between men and women, including non-regular workers, amounts to 2.4 million yen a year on average, and that the wage gap over a 40-year career reaches about 100 million yen.
Yamazoe pointed out that the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace does not oblige corporations to make public their gender difference in wages and does not even oblige them to note the difference. Labor Minister Goto Shigeyuki said that seven out of 27,526 companies which had made an action plan based on the law set a goal of making gender differences in wages known to the public. Yamazoe in response said, "Only seven out of the 27,526 means almost none. Without knowing which company has a gender gap in wages, the government cannot direct the company to rectify the wage disparity."
Yamazoe asked about efforts in other counties to correct discrepancies in wages between men and women. Noda Seiko, minister in charge of gender equality, answered that companies in the U.K., France, and Germany are required to disclose wage differentials between men and women in their workplaces and to submit a report on equal pay. Noting that the European Union in March issued a directive to enhance pay transparency, Yamazoe said, "The EU nations, where a 14% gender gap in wages is the norm, there is a push for greater transparency in wages. In contrast, in Japan, it amounts to a 25% gap even between male regular employees and female regular employees." He emphasized the need to increase pay transparency in Japan as well."
Past related article:
> Japan ranks lowest among G7 counties in gender equality in economic rights [February 26, 2021]
