IMF's Christine Lagarde (whom I still find extremely cool) recently criticized Japan for pushing its highly-qualified women to stay home after giving birth. 70% of all women leave the workforce when they have children. And the 1 out of 4 that do return to work do not have it easy: they can only do so if grandparents are willing to take over childcare (as there is a huge shortage of kindergarten places), if their employers are willing to take them back (most are not, so nearly all working moms are employed by international companies), and as working hours and commutes are long, they rarely see their children during the week.
What a waste! Not only is Japan the fastest aging society, and nearing the pension cliff at a drastic pace (where the workforce will be unable to pay for pensions of the elder generation). But Japan could add 5 GDP points to its growth if more women would be able to work.
And here I am, in Germany, thinking this place is backward.
Any ideas for action? I today posted on Facebook Ghandi's quote "Be the change you wish to see in the world". How about that as a start?
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