Number of employed women Japan 2014-2023

In 2023, the number of employed women in Japan exceeded 30.5 million. This represented an increase compared to 2014 when approximately 27.4 million women were in employment. 

Women in employment

Of around 57 million women in Japan aged 15 years and older, about 54 percent were employed in 2023. After the Equal Employment Opportunity Law in 1985 was enacted to facilitate women’s active participation in the workforce, women’s employment rate in the nation gradually rose and exceeded 50 percent for the first time in history in 2018. In the last two decades, about half of the employed women were in non-regular employment working on a part-time or temporary basis.

Challenges for working women

The Japanese population is rapidly aging and shrinking at the same time. The government, therefore, has aimed to increase the number of working women to offset the labor shortage. On the other hand, the government promotes young people to get married and have children to decelerate the persistent fertility decline in the country. The goal to increase women in the workforce and the birthrate are seemingly in conflict because support for working parents is still not adequate in Japanese society. Not all companies provide paid parental leave, for example, and the rate of parental leave claims is low, especially for men, even at companies offering parental leave. The government is promoting better work-life balance and working conditions for employees to support dual-income households with children.