Japan Press Weekly

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2012 November 28 - December 4 [LABOR]

Women endure more exploitative working conditions (Part 3)

The incidence of miscarriage among female workers in 2011 was 24.1%, higher than the average rate among all pregnant women, according to the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) survey.

Of pregnant working women, 39.3% answered they had a leave of “eight weeks” prior to giving birth, the most common period of time. Those who were “able to be exempted from overtime work” accounted for 36.65%, while 31.5% answered they “worked overtime” due to “the absence of a substitute” or due to “busy work schedules”.

Regarding legal provisions in protection for pregnant workers, 14.1% of regular employees and 20.4% of the non-regular answered that they “did not know that they were entitled to exemption from overtime work”.

After maternity leave, 70.2% of working mothers took infant-care leave. On the other hand, the utilization rate of paternity leave remained only at a 2% level.

More than half of the women respondents cited “because the income compensation during the leave was too low” as the most common reason for the failure to acquire a childrearing leave followed by “because they were unable to find a childcare center.”

Non-regular female workers who answered that they took infant-care leave because they “failed to find a childcare facility for the baby to be admitted” was three times more than regular workers who answered the same, showing that non-regular working mothers have more difficulty in obtaining admission for their babies to a childcare center.

Both regular and non-regular female workers are putting “a working environment easier to take leaves” and “less financial burdens of childrearing” at the top of the agenda.

One for every four non-regular women workers said they “could not get a regular position though they wanted one.” More female regular workers found it difficult to continue their career because of a staff shortage, long work hours, and intensive work as a result of excessive personnel cuts.

Regardless of regular or non-regular workers, for better work-life balance, it is vital to establish a work environment where workers can exercise their rights as written in relevant laws, increase the number of staff, shorten long hours of work, and convert non-regular workers into regular workers as soon as possible.

(End)


Related past articles
> Women endure more exploitative working conditions (Part 1) [November 15,16,20, 2012]

> Women endure more exploitative working conditions (Part 2) [November 21,22, 2012]