Japan has taken some steps forward since the one-two punch of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country in March. But the long-term health of the economy, which has continued to decline over the past several years, is facing a new threat that looms larger every day: Japan needs more workers. Birthrates have been plummeting - faster, in fact, than in other developed country - even as the number of older citizens is soaring. As recently as 1990, working-age Japanese outnumbered children and the elderly by 7 to 3. By 2050 the ratio will be 1 to 1. As the population grows old and feeble, the country needs to look to the growing number of educated Japanese women.
Japanese women constitute nearly half (48%) of university graduates. Yet this tranche of talent is woefully underutilized: Only 67% of college-educated women are currently employed, and many of them either languish in low-paid, part-time jobs or are shunted into dead-end "office-lady" roles serving tea for male managers and dusting their desks at the end of the day. (Time)