Mary Brinton is the Reischauer Institute Professor of Sociology and Director, Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University. Professor Brinton is the 14th Tetsuo Najita Distinguished Lecture in Japanese Studies speaker.  Professor Brinton's lecture will take place virtually on Zoom on Tuesday, February 23rd at 5 pm US Central Time.

LECTURE ABSTRACT

How Japan Got It Wrong: Government Policy, Gender, and the Birth Rate

Over the past three decades, the Japanese government has enacted a series of measures to boost the country’s anemic birth rate. Nevertheless, the birth rate has hovered around 1.4 children per woman, far below what is required for the population to reproduce itself. Why haven’t the policies worked? Professor Brinton argues that policies focused on trying to make women’s work lives more like men’s have fundamentally missed the mark. Not only have such policies failed to raise the birth rate, they have also arguably exacerbated gender inequality. Professor Brinton suggests that future government and workplace policies move in a different direction.

To view this lecture on YouTube, click here.

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