TOKYO – A record 80 percent of mothers in Japan had a job in 2024, a welfare ministry survey showed Friday.
The proportion of working mothers rose 3.1 percentage points from the previous year to 80.9 percent, topping 80 percent for the first time since the annual survey began in 1986.
The latest survey also found that 58.9 percent of households felt they were struggling to make ends meet, almost unchanged from 59.6 percent.
The share of households with children slid 1.5 points to a record low of 16.6 percent, meaning that the number of such households in the country is estimated at 9.07 million.
Among households with children, the proportion of mothers working as regular employees rose 1.7 points to a record high of 34.1 percent. (Jiji Press)