Gender Equality at Work

Committee:
Sustainability & Social Responsibility
status:
No progress
Published:
Japan remains the lowest-ranked G7 country in the 2024 Global Gender Gap Index, at 118th out of 146 countries. While this marks a modest improvement from 125th in 2023, it reflects persistent and systemic barriers to women’s economic participation and leadership. Recent government steps toward greater transparency, such as the legal requirement for large companies to disclose their gender pay gaps, represent meaningful progress. However, such measures remain insufficient on their own to close Japan’s wide gender gaps, especially in leadership representation and work-life balance.

Recommendations

The Japanese government should implement comprehensive policies to support gender equality in the workplace, including:

  • Expanding access to affordable childcare and parental leave
  • Promoting flexible work arrangements
  • Closing the gender pay gap (the second-largest among OECD countries)
  • Encouraging greater representation of women in leadership roles
Efforts should also focus on transforming workplace cultures and addressing unconscious bias to ensure inclusive career progression across all sectors. Stronger public policy engagement, beyond transparency requirements, is essential to drive systemic change.