'New capitalism': Japan sets its sight on gender pay disparity

Japan has plans to bring the pay disparity between men and women to light. In order to address gender disparities in the workplace, the country intends to make it necessary for large corporations to reveal wage disparities between men and women. This measure is part of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's 'new capitalism' action plan. Companies will be compelled to reveal women's pay as a percentage of men's compensation on their website or elsewhere, according to a report by Euronews.next. They'd also have to break down the numbers by permanent and non-permanent personnel, as well as to justify any salary disparities.

It will apply to enterprises with more than 300 employees, both public and private. According to a report by Nikkei Asia, the new law will affect roughly 18,000 enterprises.

The country's law already mandates that both men and women be paid equally for equal work.

Women's earnings in Japan, however, are only about 78 per cent of men's in comparison to the 88 per cent of other OECD countries.

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According to researchers, the pay gap between men and women is due to a shortage of women in managerial positions and the low wages paid to women returning from maternity leave.

Pay discrepancies between men and women continue to be a major issue around the world.

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Even the most developed economies are having difficulty achieving fair compensation for all workers. According to Pew Research Center, women in the United States will earn only 84 per cent of their male counterparts in 2020.

That means they put in 42 days more than their male colleagues.

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According to Eurostat, women in Europe earned 13 per cent less than males in 2020, while it was 14.2 per cent in the Eurozone.

The EU approved a similar "pay transparency" requirement for companies with 250 or more employees in 2021.

(With inputs from agencies)

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