Supporting Women’s Continuous Employment

Insights from Comparative Childcare Policies

Abstract

Women’s continuous employment is influenced not only by individual efforts and mutual support with families and workplaces, but also by public policies and national institutional arrangements. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (2024), “Current Status of Working Women in 2023, ” the female labor force participation rate in Japan declined slightly from 88.2% among those aged 25-29 to 82.6% for ages 30-34 and 80.1% for ages 35-39, before rising again to 82.1% among ages 40-44 and 83.1% among ages 45-49. Although the traditional M-shaped curve has become flatter and closer to a trapezoidal form, Japan still lags behind countries with higher levels of women’s continuous employment, indicating the need for further policy support. This study aims to clarify the role of childcare support policies in sustaining women’s employment through a comparative analysis of Japan, Germany, France, and Denmark, and to examine institutional challenges and policy implications for Japan. The analysis reveals that, compared with these European countries, Japan has a shorter duration of parental leave, lower income replacement during leave, and a lower rate of paternal leave uptake.