N/A

Despite little change in the employment rate of women in the rest of the world, the proportion of women in employment in Japan has been gradually increasing since 1980. The growth has been particularly significant in more recent years, but the problem is that about half of all Japanese women leave the workforce because of childbirth. Japanese society is likely to see a reduction in the workforce in the future due to the looming birthrate decline. Therefore, increasing the employment rate of women is an urgent issue. However, there was not so many literatures that directly asked women about the current situation in Japan, where approximately 47% of women leave the workforce after the birth of their first child. Hence, I therefore considered that there was a research gap here. Therefore, the aim of this study is to address the main factors influencing the decision-making of women in employment, in order to understand their perspectives as a new force to be reckoned with in the Japanese labor market. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and responses were obtained from 12 Japanese women. The results revealed that the factors that influence women's thoughts about leaving the workforce are related to seven anxiety factors. These seven anxieties were then found to be in an interdependent relationship. Because all of that are needed, and each has an equal relationship with the other. This will be a main barrier for women who continue to work after giving birth.

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