Housework, Child Care Barriers to Women’s Recurrent Education: Govt

Tokyo, July 10 (Jiji Press)–Housework, child care and nursing care burdens present bigger obstacles to women than to men for recurrent education, in which people return to education after starting work, the Japanese government said in its 2026 white paper on gender equality, adopted Friday. The annual white paper said that various types of recurrent education will become increasingly important in light of rapid technological innovations such as artificial intelligence, and emphasized the need to foster an environment conducive to women’s recurrent education. According to a Cabinet Office survey of 20,000 people aged 20 to 69 conducted last December, the proportion of respondents who cited housework, child care and nursing care as the biggest barrier to recurrent education for their jobs and careers came to 14.6 pct for women and 7.2 pct for men. This was the largest gender gap among all responses. The second-largest gender gap was seen in a response citing the inability to afford recurrent education, given by 32.7 pct of women and 25.4 pct of men. The proportion of people who said that they did not know what to study came to 19.1 pct for women and 13.9 pct for men. Meanwhile, men were more likely to say that they are busy with work and have no time for recurrent education, with 20.5 pct of men giving that response compared with 17.2 pct of women. The white paper said that the tendency for women to bear heavier burdens for housework, child care and nursing care may be impeding recurrent education, in addition to gender wage disparities. It said that offering online courses, expanding free child care services and promoting work-style reforms would “help eliminate barriers.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]