Married women want to work,
according to a government survey
that will form the basis for a 2012 white paper on children, child rearing
and mothers. The survey results, released early, show an astounding 86
percent of women want to continue working after having children, though most
find it almost impossible to do so. Only 11.6 percent indicated they do not
wish to seek employment.
Most women said they wanted to start working again as soon as possible
after giving birth, though they were keenly
aware of the importance of being with their young children. The largest
percentage of mothers, 23.8 percent, said they wanted to start work again as
soon as possible. Another 22.1 percent said they would prefer to wait until
their children enter kindergarten or nursery school, and another 20 percent
said they would like to start after their children enter elementary school.
This desire to work indicates that half of Japan's workforce is woefully underutilized. Japan's looming demographic and economic
crises would be eased by fuller participation of women. The road to employ
more women is not an easy one, but the process can be hastened with specific
measures.
Companies should be more flexible to accommodate women taking care of
children. The refusal of many
companies to allow flex-time, convenient working hours, telecommuting or
emergency time off to take care of children is more than just a
tradition-bound, business-as-usual mindset. That inflexibility is the central
obstacle to women's employment.
In simple terms, women need to leave the workplace to pick up their
kids from school and daycare centers, and take care of them at home. Several
hours of childcare will not interfere with total working hours if companies
find ways to accommodate their female employees.
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VOCABULARY
1.
Survey - a
set of questions that you ask a large number of people in order to find out
about their opinions or behaviour
2.
Keenly
– alertly, very
3.
Woefully
- pitiful; wretched; miserable; very sad
4.
Looming -
likely to happen very soon; worrying, and difficult to
avoid
5.
Refusal -
when you say firmly that you will not do, give, or accept something
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
What do you think is the role of a mother in the
family?
2.
Should married women work? Why? Why not?
3.
Discuss about women and women’s rights in your
country.
4.
Explain: “Behind every successful man is
a woman”
