Women students face serious job scarcity. Bankruptcy is now common, bringing about such a serious situation that suicides of the middle-aged and the elderly show a rapid increase, or many high school students are compelled to quit because their parents cannot afford to pay school expenses any more. The LDP government intends to carry out the adverse revision of the pension system and other policies that will give further damage to the people's livelihood. Taking up the major demands of the people such as the reduction in the consumption tax rate and medical expenses, the New Japan Women's Association carries forward the struggle to defend the people's livelihood. Yet these measures have not been effective to improve the real labor conditions of women.
Japan stands out from other developed countries regarding disparity between men and women.
Japanese women only get 60 percent of men's salary, and their pension is about 50 percent of what men receive. In their struggle to get wage disparity and discrimination in raise and promotion to be corrected, women have brought their cases to the court one after another in different parts of the country. At home, women are shouldered the burden of housework, childcare and care of ill or aged family members. It is estimated that their total working hours spent at workplace and at home, Japanese women work over 70 hours a week. The number of employed women has reached 21,270,000, making up 40 percent of all workers.