Daily time spent on child care by married couples in Japan 2001-2021, by gender

A survey conducted in 2021 revealed that the daily time spent on child care by married couples in Japan amounted to three hours and 54 minutes for wives and one hour and five minutes for husbands. Wives spend nearly three times as much time on child care per day as husbands.

Women spend more time on unpaid care work

In Japan, there are still prevalent gender stereotypes, assigning men the role of breadwinners and women the responsibility of taking care of the household. These traditional gender roles are reflected in the time spent on unpaid work by married couples; women spend more than three times the amount of time on unpaid domestic work as men. Accordingly, one of the most common issues women in Japan faced was balancing work and caring responsibilities, such as housework and child care. Although the younger generation is less inclined to believe that housework and child care should be done by women, there is still a segment of people who maintain this belief. 

Gender inequality in the workforce

While the employment rate of women in Japan has been on the rise, there remains a pervasive gender inequality issue in the workforce. Japan has been ranked as one of the countries with the highest gender pay gap in OECD countries. Furthermore, although the ratio of female employees taking parental leave is high, the ratio of male employees taking such leave remains disproportionately low. This disparity highlights the persistent gender imbalance in caregiving responsibilities and workplace practices, contributing to an overarching landscape of gender inequality in Japan's professional sphere.