家务劳动再分配的政策探索——日本“高龄女性贫困”问题的反思

进入深度老龄化社会的日本,"高龄女性贫困"的倾向日渐凸显。究其政策原因,在于长期以来优先对经济发展投资,将育儿养老等再生产领域的社会支出压缩到最低限度。由此形成的男性参与社会经济活动从事有酬劳动、女性承担再生产领域的家务劳动从事无酬劳动的格局,虽然使日本创造了快速经济发展的奇迹,但其代价是牺牲了一代女性参与政治、经济、社会活动的权利与机遇,并引发了当前的"高龄女性贫困"问题。近年来,日本注重探索家务劳动再分配政策路径,通过推进男女机会平等政策改革,提高家庭福利水平,改善女性劳动环境,防止"高龄女性贫困"问题继续蔓延。

Policy on Redistribution of Household Work:Reflections on “Poverty among Elderly Women” in Japan

Upon entering deeply into an aging society,"poverty among elderly women"becomes a very prominent issue in Japan. A route cause for this lies in policy whereby investment in economic development has long been prioritized,minimizing social spending in reproductive areas such as childcare and elderly care. Such policy orientation resulted in the arrangement of men’s participation in socio-economic activities as paid labor and women’s unpaid work in households in the area of reproduction. This arrangement has enabled Japan to create a miracle of rapid economic development,but at the expense of a generation of women who were deprived of opportunities and an ability to participate in political,economic,and social activities,leading to the current problem of"poverty among elderly women". In recent years,Japan has focused on exploring the redistribution of domestic work,promoting policy reforms for equal opportunities for men and women,raising the level of family benefits,and improving the working environment for women so as to prevent poverty among elderly women from escalating.