Itochu's fertility rate sparks controversy

138
3
Itochu's fertility rate sparks controversy

Itochu Corp. published a birthrate among its employees as an index for promoting women participation and advancement in the workplace, sparking controversy within the company and on social media.

The major trading house said in April that the company's total fertility rate - the average number of children a woman is expected to give birth to in her lifetime - was 1.97 in the business year through March, well above Japan's total fertility rate of 1.33 in 2020.

The fertility rate went up after the company provided support to help employees raise children while continuing their careers.

They said that the figure serves as an important index for promoting women's participation and advancement in the workplace in the future.

It is a matter of personal choice whether a person has a child or not, said an Itochu employee in her 30s who is single. I will not decide whether to have children after seeing what support programs are available at a company. Another employee, who is raising a child, said she feels something is wrong if the company emphasizes the fertility rate as one of its achievements when it comes to the decision to give birth depends on employees choices, luck and family circumstances.

Some people said on social media that the fertility rate shows the company's worker-friendliness and serves as a useful reference for students and other job-seekers.

Others were critical.

One said it felt like women are expected to give birth, even though some people can't have children and some choose not to. Another person raised questions about private matters being discussed as if they are business goals.

Itochu analyzed the fertility rate among employees aged 49 or younger who reported the birth of a child to the company.

A company representative said that the fertility rate is only one of our statistical indexes. It does not mean we have a specific target that we are pursuing. The representative said that many people think that trading houses are busy, but we wanted to send out a message that those who want children are able to have them while working here. Renge Jibu, an associate professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology who is well-versed in gender issues, said that the decision to have children involves human rights and that due attention must be paid.

She said the disclosure could give employees the idea that having children is desirable.

It is not a problem if the fertility rate is only referenced by management and the human resources department to promote measures to help employees balance their career and family, but things take a different turn when it is published or shared within the company, according to Jibu.

In Itochu's report on the progress of the promotion of women participation and advancement in the workplace and its future efforts, the total fertility rate, along with the ratio of female managers, was included. The rate was the first publicized by the company.