A Logic of Work-Life Balance in Japan : A Critical Review from the Gender Perspective

The deregulation of Japanese labour market has brought flexibility of work and then the rapid destruction of Japanese-style employment practices. And furthermore, the declining birthrate in Japan has been seriously considered as a ‘problem’. In this context, policy makers and scholars have promoted work-life balance policy in Japan. The public debate of work-life balance, however, has been held in terms of neoclassical economics and feminists interested in policy issues cannot afford to ignore its power. Feminist economists have struggled to examine the interface between the family and the labour market. I think that the methodological individualism of neoclassical economics bypasses real-world problems which women face. The paper proceeds as follows: Section Ⅰ presents some basic information on background of work-life balance policy. Section Ⅱ examines the logic of the work-life balance in Japan, both theoretically and politically