2011 Volume 87 Issue 1 Pages 1-11
Members of Silver Manpower Centers (SMCs) in Japan amount to over 700 thousand people. The women members account for a little over 300 thousand people, but never beyond 33% of the total membership. The population of elderly women is more than that of elderly men, but women have the burden of housework and less work experience, which are contributing factors for fewer women members. In addition, SMCs are supervised by the Ministry of Health, Labour and welfare and local administrative organizations However, as SMCs have been established for more than 30 years, senior women have now generally been freed from housework and acquire increased work experience and thus tend expanded desire to apply for membership in SMCs. On the other hand, recognition of public administrations such as the Ministry and local agencies falls behind the times. With a view to exploring the measures to increase membership of elderly women in SMCs, the features of the centers were compared between those which have more than 40% of women members and those with less than 25% of women members. Also interviews were conducted involving senior office personnel about types of jobs and activities on the board of the centers.
