|
|
|
|
Women flex economic muscle
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO - Japanese women, long viewed as
docile, decorative and entertaining "flowers" in
the office, are bucking the trend to become
"tigers" and "economic locomotives" that make key
economic contributions these days.
"More
women are walking a new road, changing from office
flowers, a term that describes their traditional
role as adornments to please men, to becoming
indispensable to the work place," explains Mitsuko
Yamaguchi, spokeswoman for Ishikawa Fusae Memorial
Association, one of Japan's oldest feminist
organizations.
This trend, according
to analysts, has made Japan's rising number of
single women a key source of economic growth in
their country. Statistics indicate that unmarried
women in their twenties and thirties now make up 40%
of that group living in the big cities such as Tokyo.
The importance of the single-women sector
in Japan's drive for long-term growth was
documented in a report on Japan's 2005 economic
outlook by Mizuho Securities, a leading financial
organization.
Respected economist Nobuyuki
Saji, who says the Japanese economy has pulled out
of its 10-year long recession and has begun a
sustainable recovery, cites the increasing
purchasing power of single women as one positive
sign to support his forecast.
While the
report points to the reduction of bank debt and
the manufacture of high-technology machinery as
factors that would help boost national product
performance and economic recovery, Saji devotes a
special section to the higher consumer spending by
female workers as another vital point.
"Working women in their twenties and
thirties have seen their income increase this past
two years as corporate restructuring shifts
towards a meritocratic pay system that sees income
distribution in favor of young people," he
explains.
Real consumption spending
among people below 50 years of age increased to
52.6% from around 35% of all consumption between
October 2003 to the October 2004.
Saji
says his research on consumption shows a rapid
increase in the purchase of apartments as well as
automobiles and stocks by single women, making
them a key target for Japanese companies.
Indeed, data compiled by large real estate
companies show that purchases by unmarried women
in their twenties and thirties rose to almost
three-fourths of new sales in 2004, a dramatic
trend compared to a decade ago when married men
were the largest group.
Women owners
reported average annual incomes of between
US$60,000-80,000 and bought homes that were priced
around $300,000.
Women also account for
67% of sales of mini vehicles priced at around
$2,000, a record since 1999. Data on stock
investing also show that women in their twenties
and thirties buying shares have increased to
33.9%, higher than the 24% recorded for those in
their forties and fifties.
The rise of the female spender is
also seen as key to the growth in Japan's service
industry - an annual growth rate of 3%
or higher - in companies that offer health- and beauty-related
services, as well as restaurants,
travel and recreational outlets.
Hidehiko
Yanagisawa, an analyst at Hakuhodo Research
company, says more younger women are becoming
decision makers, even after they start families,
"a huge contrast to the older generation in which
women played second-fiddle to men".
"This
social change is here to stay and is closely
observed by companies as an important business
opportunity from now on," he explains.
A
new book, Non-Parasite Single Women by Kiyo
Yamamoto, documents the lives of single women who
live on their own because they do not want to lose
their independence by getting married and settling
down to start families.
"Single and
ambitious women in Japan have well-paid jobs,
boyfriends and enjoy themselves. Their goal is to
live for themselves," Yamamoto writes.
Single and energetic Akemi Ozaki, 37,
cannot agree more. Ozaki launched her own beauty
and hair-styling shop two years ago and says she
does not even dream of marriage.
"I am too
busy with work and enjoying life to adjust to
another human being in my life," explains the
slight woman, whose work schedule ends after
midnight most weekdays. She caters to a growing
number of working women who want to relax with a
shampoo or facial after they leave the office in
the evenings.
Women are reporting inroads
in the more conservative job market as well.
Trenders Inc, a company offering placement
services for women, says their single clients are
now being snapped up as managers by companies that
have begun to report a doubling of their sales in
the past two years.
"Women managers have
an edge over men when it comes to handling
consumer goods and other services for companies in
that field," says Kahoko Tsunezawa, who runs the
company.
(Inter Press Service) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
All material on this
website is copyright and may not be republished in any form without written
permission.
© Copyright 1999 - 2004 Asia Times
Online Ltd.
|
|
Head
Office: Rm 202, Hau Fook Mansion, No. 8 Hau Fook St., Kowloon, Hong
Kong
Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
|
Asian Sex Gazette Japanese Sex News
|
|
|
