Title: Short-changed? Part-time workers in JapanSubmitted by: Kaye Broadbent, School of Industrial Relations, Griffith University, AustraliaPart-time work is increasing in significance as a form of paid work in Japan, in particular for women who comprise 73 per cent of the part-time workforce. In exploring why women are overrepresented in part-time work this paper argues the importance of understanding how the sexual division of labour in Japan is constituted for informing discussion on part-time work in Japan. A case study of a national supermarket chain, Daiichi (a psuedonym), provided the opportunity for intensive analysis of the construction and definition of part-time work in Japan. Analysis of employment conditions for part-time workers, the impact of working part-time on the division of labour in the household and the relationship between enterprise unions and part-time workers suggests governments, employers and enterprise union officials in Japan accept the existence of a division of labour based on sex as natural. Through legislation, government policy, employment strategies and enterprise union policies the division of labour based on sex has been institutionalised and legitimised. Return to Abstracts menuCarol Burnett Phone: 61 - 3 - 9349 1899 Email: c.burnett@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
|