
Commentary / World May 11, 2020
A little predictability could go a long way for working moms
by Kara Alaimo
Knowing what’s ahead can ease the parenting-while-working juggle.
A little predictability could go a long way for working moms
Knowing what’s ahead can ease the parenting-while-working juggle.
Japan's baby food market growing steadily despite low birthrate
Japan' baby food market is on a steady expansion track despite a falling number of children thanks to growing demand from working parents seeking convenient, precooked baby food. Japanese parents generally start to wean their babies when they are 5 or 6 months old, first ...
Japan modernizing workplace conditions to lure new mothers back
With Japan's demographic challenges causing a workforce crunch that is proving difficult for companies to overcome, many are now offering flexible conditions to allow new mothers to return to full-time careers while maintaining their work-family balance. More women, afraid their careers will stagnate while they ...
Japan begins to embrace baby-sitting as day care services elude
The demand for baby sitters in Japan is soaring amid a shortage of public day care services for preschool children. "It is very hard to book a good baby sitter. It is a hard-fought battle," said a 33-year-old working mother who has used them for ...
Calbee sees granola boom by pitching to Japanese working women
Calbee Inc.'s granola snack had been around for 20 years, with no real change to its recipe or sales. Then a female marketing executive turned things around by pitching the cereal as a time-saver for a growing class of consumers just like her: working ...
Working mothers in Japan are jettisoning their careers and resorting to contract work amid laws that fail to support shorter hours long term. The child care and family care leave law obliges employers to reduce working hours to six a day in principle for those ...
Modern moms can't find stitch in time to make traditional needlework school bags
Every year as cherry blossoms bloom, mothers across Japan toil until late at night to sew fabric bags that nursery and elementary schools require their children to have when starting class in April. Even though many women nowadays continue working after becoming mothers, and sewing ...
Some Japanese firms offering easier shifts for mothers with young kids
Chihiro Nishijima's cellphone rang one evening last May when she was away from Tokyo on a business trip. It was from the day care center in Tokyo where her 1-year-old son was. They told her he had developed a fever and they needed her to ...
Subsidies going up for day care centers that handle sick children
Government subsidies for day care centers and hospitals specializing in taking care of sick children will rise in April as the Abe administration seeks to increase the female workforce.
Working moms spending less time on looks, prioritize children: survey
Japanese working mothers spend less time on personal grooming before going to work than single women so they can care for their children. According to an opinion poll conducted by major watch manufacturer Citizen Holdings Co., working mothers — defined as married women with toddlers ...
Laundry firm's flexibility cited as reason why single moms don't quit
Since joining the laundering company Kikuya in 1995, Akemi Hirayama says she has never missed a day of work. Hirayama, who works at a Kikuya facility in Matsubushi, Saitama Prefecture, was commended for her 10 years of service with the company this month. When times are ...
South Korea shows the way on 'womenomics'
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he wants to put more women to work to help make up for the country's shrinking population. Yet, of the 1,093 people who ran for office in recent snap elections, a mere 169 were women. Abe might want to ...