Japan gets the message as working mom’s complaint goes viral
An anonymous blogger triggered the controversy with an angry rant last month about her failed quest to find day care. The author said she had no choice but to quit her job to take care of her new child, and she gave the post a provocative title that roughly translates: “My child wasn't accepted at nursery school. Die, Japan!”
The message spread quickly across Japan’s active social media and jumped to the mainstream news media, as well.
“Many women want to return to work after having children, but there are few support
mechanisms to help them re-enter the workplace,” said Kathy Matsui, managing director at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo, in a speech last month.
Matsui wrote in a 2014 study that Japan’s gross domestic product could increase by nearly 13% if women’s participation in the workforce matched that of men.
Japan’s government-supported day care system dates to the 1970s, when it was assumed that most women would drop out of the workforce after giving birth. The system was designed largely to help couples who couldn’t get by on a single income, and it gives preferences based on parents’ income and children’s age.
But demand has outstripped supply in recent years, as the cost of child-rearing has soared, and mothers have looked to return to work.
“The government had to act now, or forever look ridiculously out of touch,” Snow said. “Women in particular are growing tired of hearing, ‘More babies, Japan!’ when those hoped-for babies won’t have much of a social safety net for moms and dads.”
昔ハングマン、今ブログか。