世論 What Japan Thinks

I think barring local government work (they seem to have more regular hours), being a typical Japanese wife who works (working wives, especially full-time, are not really that typical, however!), with a typical Japanese husband, must be exceptionally hard. So, goo Ranking conducted a survey to see what rather tough aspects of being a working wife would women like their husbands to understand.

Demographics

Between the 6th and 8th of August 2013 the survey was conducted, but goo Ranking have still not got round to adding the page that contains the further demographic information. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample. Furthermore, this survey was presumably only for working mothers

Fortunately I work for a more enlightened employer that has relatively mother-friendly (not fathers, though) policies. There are a good number of mothers returning to the workplace, not just clerical but also technical. However, promotion chances for women are poorer, I feel, and even childless or single women around me don’t seem to rise to the same level as men.

Ranking result

Q: What rather tough aspects of being a working wife would you like your husband to understand? (Sample size=working wives)

Rank		Score
1	Even though I want to do a big Spring cleaning, I have neither the time nor the strength	100
2=	Due to work, I cannot always do the washing on a sunny day	79.2
2=	Having to cope with both work and housework, I cannot take any time off to laze about	79.2
4	I cannot easily take a trip with my friends, stay out all night, etc like when I was single	62.3
5	When it starts to rain while at work, I cannot take the washing in for many an hour	60.4
6	As work, housework, child-rearing, etc take all day, I cannot take time for my hobbies	54.7
7	I have to get up early every morning and before going to work prepare lunch boxes for all the family	52.8
8	After work, it’s difficult to get to the supermarket before closing time	47.2
9=	Since my husband is also busy at work, it’s difficult to ask him to help with the housework	45.3
9=	I cannot concentrate on work alone	45.3
11	For evening meals I cannot avoid having to use convenience store lunch boxes, deli foods, or just eating out	41.5
12	People give me the evil eye when I have to take a day off to deal with my child’s illness	37.7
13	It’s an extra load having to deliver children to and collect them from daycare, etc	37.7
14	Although there are other working mothers at the workplace, I alone cannot show a tired face	34.0
15	As I have to go out often for both work and chores, I must spend energy and money on clothes	30.2
16=	I cannot attend my child’s school events	26.4
16=	As my work location is limited, it is difficult to get promotion	26.4
18=	I have to adjust my workload based on my husband’s salary	24.5
18=	I am too busy to dress myself up	24.5
20=	I feel alienated from my local community since I cannot participate in events	18.9
20=	I tell people I work too, but they think that it’s because we cannot live on my husband’s salary alone	18.9
22	I get nosey questions at work like “No children yet?”, “Are you planning on a second?”, etc	17.0
23=	I often cannot respond to emergency situations at work, and cannot get help from coworkers	15.1
23=	I cannot go off drinking with coworkers, so interpersonal relations at the office are lacking	15.1
25	As I cannot do overtime, work gradually piles up	13.2