Japan election: Why do 70% of Japanese women give up work?
12 December 2014 Last updated at 07:35 GMT
Japan will hold a general election this weekend that looks likely to return Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to power.
Mr Abe says the poll is a referendum on "Abenomics" - his signature plan to fix the economy.
But many voters say there's no feasible alternative, leading some commentators to say the prime minister will win by default.
The BBC's Tokyo correspondent Rupert Wingfield Hayes reports on Mr Abe's attempts to get women back into the workforce after they have children.
Female workers
One answer could be women. In simple economic terms, women are a valuable resource.
Japan has one of the most highly educated female populations in the world. And yet much of that talent is going to waste.
Many Japanese women give up work when they get pregnant
Compared to their counterparts in North America and Europe, far more Japanese women give up full-time employment after they have their first child, and fewer go back to full-time work once their child is in school.
According to a research paper by Kathy Matsui, at Goldman Sachs in Japan, getting full-time female employment up to the level of Italy could add 15% to Japan's GDP.
Prime Minister Abe has declared himself a fan of what has become known as "Womenomics".
He has set an extremely ambitious target that by the end of this decade, 30% of all managers in Japanese companies should be women.
There are lots of reasons why this won't happen.
Primary among them is Japan's work culture. Talk to any professional Japanese woman about her experience in the corporate world and you are likely to hear a similar story.
Work hours are extremely long, routinely extending far into the evening. Male-dominated social drinking is a part of corporate life.
Taking time off to have children destroys promotion prospects - as does leaving the office "early" to make dinner for you children.
In short, trying to balance family life and a full-time job is almost impossible.
Japan election: Why do 70% of Japanese women give up work?
12 December 2014 Last updated at 07:35 GMT
Japan will hold a general election this weekend that looks likely to return Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to power.
Mr Abe says the poll is a referendum on "Abenomics" - his signature plan to fix the economy.
But many voters say there's no feasible alternative, leading some commentators to say the prime minister will win by default.
The BBC's Tokyo correspondent Rupert Wingfield Hayes reports on Mr Abe's attempts to get women back into the workforce after they have children.
Female workers
One answer could be women. In simple economic terms, women are a valuable resource.
Japan has one of the most highly educated female populations in the world. And yet much of that talent is going to waste.
Many Japanese women give up work when they get pregnant
Compared to their counterparts in North America and Europe, far more Japanese women give up full-time employment after they have their first child, and fewer go back to full-time work once their child is in school.
According to a research paper by Kathy Matsui, at Goldman Sachs in Japan, getting full-time female employment up to the level of Italy could add 15% to Japan's GDP.
Prime Minister Abe has declared himself a fan of what has become known as "Womenomics".
He has set an extremely ambitious target that by the end of this decade, 30% of all managers in Japanese companies should be women.
There are lots of reasons why this won't happen.
Primary among them is Japan's work culture. Talk to any professional Japanese woman about her experience in the corporate world and you are likely to hear a similar story.
Work hours are extremely long, routinely extending far into the evening. Male-dominated social drinking is a part of corporate life.
Taking time off to have children destroys promotion prospects - as does leaving the office "early" to make dinner for you children.
In short, trying to balance family life and a full-time job is almost impossible.
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