I've noticed this from other manga as well, but do japanese women have a choice in staying to work after they get married or are they discouraged? At the rate the world is getting in now, a single earner in a family household is not enough. Also, japan has a high divorce rate so this is crippling for the woman just in case.
The assumption is that someone getting married is also going to start having and raising kids, which is a reason for women to quit their full-time jobs. Whether those assumptions are true or not, it's the line of thinking that leads to women getting passed over for raises and promotions at these kinds of companies; "she's only going to be useful to us until she finds a man." This just adds another layer of pressure to Hiroko's work life...
It does seem to be the case that in Japan it's still more or less workable for a couple or even a family to exist on one salary--at least, one real "salaryman" salary, as earned by a male at a company. Full time service sector work (to the extent that that even exists), probably not so much. And chances are the average "OL" gets paid enough less because sexism that a single salary where it's the woman's salary would not be enough. But if it's a guy with a "respectable" job, then yeah. I think maybe some expenses, like housing, are cheaper in Japan than most other high wage places. I also notice that in manga even most people with pretty solid, respectable positions seem to commute by transit and often don't own a car, another expense off the list.
Basically, I have this feeling that at some point the Japanese establishment elites sat down and said "We want to keep the traditional family with bread-winning men and housewives in kitchens; what to we have to do to jig salary and expenses to keep the single-earner household viable?" and did that.
last edited at May 26, 2023 3:06PM
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