Married women want to work, according to a government survey that will form the basis for a 2012 white paper on children, child rearing and mothers. The survey results, released early, show an astounding 86 percent of women want to continue working after having children, though most find it almost impossible to do so. Only 11.6 percent indicated they do not wish to seek employment.
Of women aged 20 to 49 with children under 19, the survey found that 45.3 percent said they wish to work part time and that 25.8 percent would like to become regular employees. Another 14.9 percent wanted to work part time at first and later as regular employees. The gap between wanting to work and being employed, though, is vast.
The Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2010 noted that the total labor force participation rate, which includes all workers from age 15 to 70, was 71.6 percent for men and 48.5 percent for women.