The political economy of postwar family policy in Japan: Economic imperatives and electoral incentives

Journal of Japanese Studies

Volumn 33, Issue 1, 2007, Pages 1-28

  Lambert, Priscilla A ^a  

^a WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 33947707834     PISSN: 00956848     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/jjs.2007.0023     Document Type: Article

References (91)

1. Trudie Knijin and Monique Kremer, "Gender and the Caring Dimension of Welfare States: Toward Inclusive Citizenship," Social Politics, Vol. 4, No. 3 (1997), p. 350.
2. Sheldon Garon, Molding Japanese Minds: The State in Everyday life (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997).
3. Sheldon Garon, The State and Labor in Modem Japan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987), pp. 13-21;
4. Hashimoto Hiroko, Josei rōdō to hoiku (Tokyo: Domesu Shuppan, 1992).
5. Garon, The State and Labor in Modern Japan, p. 28;
6. Laurel Rasplica Rodd, "Yosano Akiko and the Taisho Debate Over the 'New Woman,'" in Gail Lee Bernstein, ed., Recreating Japanese Women, 1600-1945 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991).
7. Takashi Araki, Labor and Employment Law in Japan (Tokyo: Japan Institute of Labor, 2002), p. 206.
8. Sakurai Kinue, Bosei hogo undōshi (Tokyo: Domesu, 1987).
9. Momose Takashi, Nihon fukushi seido-shi (Kyoto: Minerva Shobō, 1997);
10. Kathleen Uno, Passages to Modernity: Motherhood, Childhood and Social Reform in Early Twentieth Century Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999).
11. Hashimoto, Josei rōdō to hoiku, p. 117.
12. Momose, Nihon fukushi seido-shi;
13. Uno, Passages to Modernity.
14. Home Ministry Social Bureau, 1930, quoted in Uno, Passages to Modernity, p. 136.
15. Child cares continued to increase in number into the 1940s. Just prior to the end of the war, there were just over 2,000 day cares, but by 1946, there were only 873 left - many had been burned down in fire bombings or closed when the factories they were attached to went out of business. Ministry of Health and Welfare, Kōseishō gojūnen-shi (Tokyo: Chūō Hōki Shuppan, 1988).
16. Ito Peng, "Childcare Policies in Japan: Postwar Developments and Recent Reforms," in Thomas P. Boje and Arnlaug Leira, eds., Gender, Welfare State and the Market: Towards a New Division of Labor (London: Routledge, 2000).
17. Garon, The State and Labor in Modern Japan, p. 29.
18. Prior to this piece of legislation, Article 6 of the Livelihood Protection Law of 1946 (Seikatsu Hogo-Hō), which sought to establish a social minimum, included provisions for day cares "where necessary."
19. GHQ's principle of "equality without discrimination" (musabetsu byōdō) meant that emergency relief was administered without discriminating against particular groups or, alternatively, singling out some groups for preferential treatment (e.g., military). Thus, war orphans and all children became objects of protection under the Child Welfare Law and for new regulations regarding compulsory education. See Martin Collick, "Social Policy: Pressures and Responses," in J. A. A. Stockwin, A. Rix, A. George, J. Home, D. Ito, and M. Collick, eds., Dynamic and Immobilist Politics in Japan (Oxford: Macmillan Press, 1988);
20. Momose, Nihon fukushi seido-shi.
21. Quoted in Shimoebisu Miyuki, "Kazoku seisaku no rekishi-teki tenkai," in Shakai Hosho Kenkyūjo, ed., Gendai kazoku to shakai hoshō (Tokyo: Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppan, 1994), p. 254.
22. The distinction between kindergartens and child care centers became blurred and created tension between the Ministry of Education, which oversees kindergartens, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which is in charge of childcare.
23. See Management and Coordination Agency, Hoikujo ni kan suru gyōsei kansatsu kekka hokokusho (Tokyo: Administrative Inspection Bureau, 1991);
24. Ministry of Health and Welfare, Riyō shiyasui hoikusho o mezashite (Tokyo: Ōkurasho Insatsu-Kyoku, 1994). Note that care for the elderly and most other social welfare services were also administered through the placement system.
25. Ministry of Labor, Fujin rōdō no jitsujō (Tokyo: Nihon Rōdō Kenkyūjo, 1981).
26. In the same period, the population of children aged 0-14 fell and rose, but overall remained about the same.
27. See Sandra Buckley, "Altered States: The Body Politics of 'Being Woman,'" in Andrew Gordon, ed., Postwar Japan as History (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993);
28. Mariko Fujita, '"It's All Mother's Fault': Childcare and the Socialization of Working Mothers in Japan," Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 15, No. 1 (1989), pp. 67-91;
29. Shin-Ninon Fujin no Kai, Watakushi-tachi no hoiku-zukuri (Tokyo, 1963);
30. Uda Kikue, Takasawa Takeshi, and Furukawa Kojun, Shakai fukushi no rekishi (Tokyo: Yūhikaku, 2001).
31. Quoted in Shimoebisu, "Kazoku seisaku no rekishi-teki tenkai," p. 258. To reinforce this new insistence on home care for small children, the MHW renamed the Children's Bureau (Jidō-kyoku) the Children and Families Bureau (Jidō Katei-kyoku) in 1964.
32. The subcommittee on childcare followed up with a report on childcare policy and listed seven principles of child care: (1) childcare at home is the number one necessity; (2) the responsibility of care at home lies with the mother; (3) children have a right to be raised by their mother; (4) there is a need for public support of childcare in the home; (5) even childcare outside the home should be made more "home-like"; (6) the younger the child is, the greater the need for it to be at home; (7) group childcare should be led by experts. Shimoebisu, "Kazoku seisaku no rekishi-teki tenkai," p. 258.
33. Kuwahara Yōko, Josei to fukushi (Tokyo: Shinzansha, 1995), p. 34.
34. As mentioned in the section on early postwar policy, publicly funded childcare in Japan can be provided by private organizations or by local government authorities. All publicly funded childcare must meet certain standards for staffing, size of establishment, curriculum, etc. In Japanese these centers are ninka hoiku, or licensed childcare centers that meet these minimum standards and are subsidized by the government. Private centers that do not qualify for ninka status are not regulated or subsidized and therefore tend to be much more expensive but with lower-quality care than ninka hoiku.
35. The Shin-Nihon Fujin no Kai (New Japan Women's Committee) reports that women's groups were successful in getting new childcares established. Unfortunately, the group does not report actual figures on the number of groups or childcares established. The anecdotal evidence shows that the successful campaigns were those able to attract union support and to time their demands to coincide with local elections. Hashimoto Hiroko also documents women's movements and union efforts to expand childcare, but, again, there is no systematic analysis of what these groups accomplished. Labor unions, particularly unions with large numbers of women, also organized around the childcare issue. For example, women in Denden Kōsha's (NTT) union gained new centers in several cities and some 26 centers by 1968. Zensen, a textile and garment workers' union, also got about ten new centers, and university staff unions were able to get ten centers total in public universities. Altogether this accounts for perhaps 40 to 50 new centers in the late 1960s, less than ten per cent of the 500 to 600 new centers that were opening annually. In other words, this can only explain a small portion of the increase in childcare provision. Hashimoto, Josei rōdō to hoiku;
36. Shin-Nihon Fujin no Kai, Watakushi-tachi no hoiku-zukuri;
37. Hisatake Ayako, Kaino Tamie, Wakao Noriko, and Yoshida Akemi, eds., Kazoku detabukku (Tokyo: Yūhikaku, 1997).
38. Hashimoto, Josei rōdō to hoiku;
39. Kumito Fujiko, "Joshi rōdōsha no byōdō yōkyū no hatten," in Josei-Shi Sōgō Kenkyūkai, ed., Nihon josei seikatsu-shi, Vol. 5 (Tokyo: Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppankai, 1990);
40. Uda et al., Shakai fukushi no rekishi.
41. Ministry of Health and Welfare, Kōseishō gojūnen-shi, pp. 1226-28; Ministry of Health and Welfare, Riyō shiyasui hoikusho o mezashite.
42. Ministry of Health and Welfare, Kōseishō gojūnen-shi, p. 1218.
43. Peng, "Childcare Policies in Japan," p. 183.
44. Mary Brinton, Women and the Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993).
45. Alice Lam, "Equal Employment Opportunities for Japanese Women: Changing Company Practice," in Janet Hunter, ed., Japanese Women Working (London: Routledge, 1993).
46. Japan Association of International Women's Rights, Josei kanren-hō detabukku (Tokyo: Yūhikaku, 1998).
47. Hayashi Yoshitsugu, "Jidō fukushi to zaisei seisaku," Kikan shakai hoshō kenkyū, Vol. 34, No. 1 (1998), p. 27.
48. Itohisa Yaeko, Ikuji Kyūgyō-Hō (Tokyo: Rōdōkyōiku Sentā, 1990), p. 64.
49. These include the oil shocks of 1973 and 1979 as well as the "Nixon shock" in 1971 when U.S. President Richard Nixon unilaterally dismantled the fixed exchange rate system.
50. Hirota Hisao, "Ikuji Kyūgyō-Hō no seiritsu to sono haikei," part 1, Jūristo, No. 605 (January 1976),
51. and part 2, Jūristo, No. 606 (February 1976);
52. Matsumoto Sen'ichi, "Ikuji Kyūgyō-Hō: Rippō purosesu no tokuisei," Jūristo, No. 805 (January 1984);
53. Sakamoto Fukuko, Kaisetsu: Ikuji Kyūgyō-Hō (Tokyo: Gakushū no Tomosha, 1991);
54. Sakurai, Bosei hogo undōshi.
55. There was considerable internal debate as many felt that demands for increased childcare services should take priority, but since many teachers were facing immediate dismissal, the union decided to pursue parental leave. Sakurai, Bosei hogo undōshi, p. 212.
56. Itohisa, Ikuji Kyūgyō-Hō;
57. Takahashi Sakutaro, Shōsetsu: Ikuji Kyūgyō nado ni kan suru hōritsu (Tokyo: Labor Administration Research Institute, 1991).
58. Sakurai, Bosei hogo undōshi, pp. 212-13.
59. Between 1971 and 1974, the percentage of firms with leave rose a little more than 3 per cent from 2.3 per cent to 5.7 per cent, but then stagnated at 6.3 and 6.6 per cent in 1976 and 1978 respectively. Itohisa, Ikuji Kyūgyō-Hō;
60. Ministry of Labor, Fujin rōdō no jitsujo (Tokyo: Ōkurashō Insatsukyoku, 1981).
61. Matsumoto, "Ikuji Kyūgyō-Hō: Rippō purosesu no tokuisei," p. 101;
62. Takahashi, Shōsetsu: Ikuji Kyūgyō nado ni kan suru hōritsu, p. 51.
63. June 27, 1975. Quoted in Itohisa, Ikuji Kyūgyō-Ho, p. 61.
64. Although the law clearly states that leave is unpaid, some compensation was introduced from mutual aid societies and from the government in a supplementary provision.
65. Kent Calder, Crisis and Compensation: Public Policy and Political Stability in Japan (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988).
66. Liberal Democratic Party, Katei kiban no jūjitsu ni kan suru taisaku yōkō (Tokyo: LDP Seimu Chōsakai, 1979).
67. 1973 was dubbed the "first year of the welfare era" and the stated goal was to transform Japan into a "welfare superpower" (fukushi taikoku). The child allowance was introduced, health insurance benefits were expanded, and free health care for the elderly was introduced. Unfortunately, the unveiling of these policies coincided with the first oil crisis and economic recession.
68. LDP, Katei kiban no jūjitsu ni kan suru taisaku yōkō.
69. For more on Rinchō, see Yukio Noguchi, "Budget Policymaking in Japan," in Samuel Kernell, ed., Parallel Politics: Economic Policymaking in the United States and Japan (Washington: Brookings Institution, 1991);
70. Sone Yasunori, "Yarase no seiji: Shingikai no hōshiki o kenshō sum," Chūō kōron, January 1986, pp. 148-55.
71. Rinchō's other major reform was the privatization of three public corporations: Japan National Railways (JNR), Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), and Japan Tobacco and Salt Corporation.
72. Okabe Tatsuo, Enzeru Puran, Jidō Fukushi-Hō o do kangaeruka? (Tokyo: Hitonaru Shobō, 1996).
73. Ministry of Health and Welfare, Kōseisho gajūnen-shi, p. 1753.
74. Noguchi, "Budget Policymaking in Japan," p. 125.
75. Submitted to the Diet in September 1985, the petition stated that childcare services were suffering because Rinchō cut national subsidies in order to make more funds available for military spending. The petition demands included the reinstatement of the 80 per cent subsidy, lower childcare fees, and higher wages for childcare workers. Japan Child Care Research Institute, Hoiku hakusho (Tokyo: Sōdo Bunka, 1985), p. 309.
76. For more on financing childcare, see Katsumata Sachiko, "Hoikuryō ni mini riyōsha futan to zeigen seisaku," in Shakai Hosho Kenkyūjo, ed., Shakai hoshō no zaigen seisaku (Tokyo: Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppankai, 1994).
77. Childcare Research Institute, Hoiku hakusho (Tokyo: Sōdo Bunka, 1990), pp. 134-40;
78. Tamura Kazuyuki, "Saikin no hoiku seisaku to seido kaikaku mondai," Jūristo, No. 1027 (July 1993), pp. 100-105.
79. Matsubara Nobuko, Yoku wakaru ikuji kyūgyō-hō no jitsumu kaisetsu (Tokyo: Labor Administration Research Institute, 1992); Peng, "Childcare Policies in Japan";
80. Watanabe Shin, Ikuji kaigo kyūgyō-hō no jitsumu kaisetsu (Tokyo: Rōdō Tsūshin, 1996).
81. Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, "Ikuji kaigo kyūgyō no aramashi," available at http://www.mhlw.go.jp/ general/seido/koyou/ryouritu/aramashi.html; National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (NIPSSR), Child Related Policies in Japan (Tokyo: NIPSSR, 2003).
82. However, take-up rates are still low and nearly 70 per cent of working women quit their jobs when they have their first child. NIPSSR, Second National Survey on Family in Japan 1998 (Tokyo: NIPSSR, 2000).
83. Ministry of Health and Welfare, Kinkyū hoiku taisaku-nado go-ka nen jigyō (Tokyo: 1994);
84. NIPSSR, Child Related Policies in Japan;
85. Welfare Laws and Regulations Study Group, Tsuzuki: Kō naru shin-fukushi seisaku (Tokyo: Taisei Shuppansha, 2000).
86. Childcare Research Institute, Hoiku hakusho (1997);
87. Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Hoikusho no jōkyō. Available at: http://www.mhlw.go.jp/topics/index. html#koyou, accessed on March 29, 2006.
88. Childcare Research Institute, Hoiku hakusho (2002).
89. For more information on policy developments since the 1990s, see Pat Boling, "Family Policy in Japan," Journal of Social Policy, Vol. 27, No. 2 (1998), pp. 173-90;
90. Leonard J. Schoppa, Race for the Exits: The Unraveling of Japan's System of Social Protection (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2006);
91. Frances Rosenbluth, ed., The Political Economy of Japan's Low Fertility (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2007).