Young women, come back!

June 10, 14:29

There is a city that seriously thinks

, "Why are young women not coming back?"

It is Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture.

Isn't the social gender gap "gender gap" the major cause?

The city-wide efforts have begun to move and have begun to attract attention nationwide.

Immediately after that, the mayor who was the flag waving player lost the election.

What happened in this city?

For three months, I was in close contact with the people of the city.

What I could see was the appearance of a local city swaying between the ideals of the future and the reality of the present.

(Kinreibayashi, Mayumi Yoda, Toshinaga Nunoura)

Young women are gone ...

Toyooka City facing the Sea of ​​Japan in the northern part of Hyogo Prefecture.

About 80,000 people live in an area slightly larger than the 23 wards of Tokyo.

There is Kinosaki Onsen, which is also known as a novel by Naoya Shiga, and it is also a production center for snow crab and firefly squid.

Muneharu Nakagai (66) has been the mayor of this city for four terms and 16 years.

In addition to realizing the return of storks to the wild, they have come up with "penetrating policies" such as "theatrical town development" one after another.

Nakagai launched "Gender Gap Elimination" in 2018, which is approaching the fourth term.

“Gender gap” refers to the social gender gap.

It is pointed out that the percentage of women in the decision-making layer, such as politicians and corporate managers, is low.

Nakagai has declared that he will work to close this disparity in a familiar place.

The trigger was the result of the census (2010-2015) published just before that.

By comparing the percentage of people who moved out of Toyooka City in their teens and those who moved in in their 20s, the "Youth Recovery Rate" was released as a unique index.

Then, males accounted for 52.2%, while females accounted for 26.7%.

Nakagai thought that only half of the men were returning women.

"The young woman was gone. I suddenly noticed it. It was scary. I was horrified. What was Toyooka doing so far?"

“The city lacked fairness”

How can I get a woman back?

The city interviewed women and residents who had moved out.

"Even back in Toyooka, managers just in is not likely work that women can play an active role male"

, "female only man at the center of regional activities such as tea Kumi and clean up, auxiliary role"

"gender gap remains in the region Is connected to the difficulty of living for women.

Furthermore, it was found that there is a large disparity between men and women in data such as average annual income.

Nakagai said:

"Women have a wall, a gender gap. They can only do auxiliary jobs. Marriage and childbirth put pressure on them to quit their jobs. Hometowns don't look attractive at all. Young people and women Will come back. Our city lacked fairness and fairness. "

First from the local officers

On April 1, the "Gender Gap Countermeasures Office" was set up at the city hall.

It is said that the office in charge specializing in this problem is rare in Japan.

As a result of four staff members examining how to eliminate the gender gap in the region, they set a certain goal.

"By 2025, increase the percentage of female officers of the regional federation to 30%."

There are 29 regional federations in the city, and the city allocates budgets for festivals and disaster prevention to promote town development.

First of all, I thought that the first thing to do was to close the gender gap from familiar places such as regional meetings.

“I have lived for decades with this idea”

The members of the countermeasures office immediately began to work on the area.

The Takeno area facing the Sea of ​​Japan was selected as the model area.

It is a town with a beautiful sandy beach and a thriving fishing industry, and in the summer the beaches are crowded with many tourists.

There are 16 regional officers, of whom only two are women.

In the first place, in the Takeno area, the officers continue to be "allocated", where the PTA chairman of the elementary school, the fire brigade leader, and the tourism association chairman also serve concurrently.

When I was talking to the executives about the gender gap, I was curious about one person's remarks.

(Executive)

"When the wave of declining birthrate and aging population is coming, the ban on women (of traditional events) is no longer being obeyed.

Is

it

unavoidable?

I feel a little uncomfortable.

(Executive)

"That's the gap. It's been living for decades with this idea, so it may be difficult to change it in a few months or a year."

Still, the district I'm trying to start where I can change.

In response to the city's proposal, we first began to consider whether we could change to a method of selecting officers by address.

That would make it easier for women to raise their hands.

Also, at the board of directors, most meetings, such as monthly regular meetings, start at 19:30, but for many years no one questioned.

This time, a woman said, "By the time you attend the meeting, you have to finish all the housework such as making dinner for your family, and the evening party is a burden," and decided to consider the start time.

Do you want to take on a “high position”?

The Gender Gap Countermeasures Office also turned to private companies.

The ratio of female managers in companies in Toyooka City is 16%, and the goal is to raise this to 20% by 2025.

In response to the city's call, some companies have promoted reforms.

Precision spring company "Toho Seiko".

Of the approximately 100 employees, only three were in positions such as chiefs and leaders.

President Shinji Okamoto (63) agreed with the city's efforts and increased the number of women with job titles to five.

However, while talking to a woman in the company, I felt a certain problem.

In response to an in-house awareness survey, 38.7% of employees answered that they would like to take on a higher position, while only 9.1% of women answered.

Why are there so few women aiming for a position?

Yuki Otagaki (47) of the General Affairs Department was appointed as the chief of the general affairs department, but his thoughts were complicated.

"I think I have you in chief by say" working women "," Do not do not what is seems from around me "in the number of horses,"

even when the chief, the tea out to the boss or visitors Continued.

"Since I joined the company, I've been told that I'm going to make tea, so it's a daily routine."

Mr. Otagaki dreamed of studying a language at a four-year university and working internationally.

However, he was opposed by his family and others, saying, "I don't need a male-level education."

"If a woman's educational background is too high, the other man will be despised at the time of marriage," he said.

However, when I was assigned to work, Mr. Otagaki's feelings also changed.

As the chief, he has begun studying programming in an attempt to propose more efficient payroll systems.

At the company, women will be the first new leaders to serve this year.

The aim is to have them become aware of instructing their subordinates as bosses and to connect them to female managers.

In April, the president sent an email to all employees at this company.

"In order to review the fixed division of roles between men and women, we will abolish tea making by the General Affairs Department in the future."

"Corona" rather than "gender"

Nakagai felt a response to the efforts so far.

During this year, a turbulence will occur at the point of enacting an ordinance proclaiming the elimination of the gender gap and making a strategy to promote it even more powerfully.

The Toyooka mayoral election announced on April 18.

It was Kuniro Sekinuki (64), a former city council member, who "waited" for Nakagai.

When asked by reporters about the city's policies so far, Sekinuki replied:

"Gender gap elimination is not a top priority. There is a lot of work to be done in Corona now. Will young women come back in a city where women can play an active role? No, it's just on the boom. Isn't it? ”

Sekinuki put up support for child-rearing households suffering from the corona disaster.

Above all, he emphasized free medical expenses for children and reduction of municipal tax, and appealed for a change in municipal administration, saying, "There should be no municipal administration that citizens are not satisfied with. Child support and welfare are left behind." ..

Nakagai has pledged to close the gender gap and further promote theatrical community development, aiming for the fifth term.

Based in a populous urban area, it was recommended by the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito Party, and locally elected members of the Diet rushed to support it.

At first, there were many views that Nakagai had the upper hand even after proceeding with the interview.

But when the election campaign began, things were different.

I felt that many people in the city said, "I want you to prioritize policies that are close to the lives of citizens rather than closing the gender gap."

"It medical expenses up to high school students in the municipality around is in free tuition, Toyooka do not have any support. First, child care support I think is that it is ahead" (women in child-rearing)

"Many of the eateries in the corona epidemic I want you to focus on your life rather than on “outward” policies such as theater and closing the gender gap. ”(Restaurant management)

Flag waving exit

Even in Toyooka City, the impact of the new corona was prolonged.

In a questionnaire survey by the city's Chamber of Commerce, 80% of companies answered that "sales have deteriorated."

In particular, the impact on the tourism industry, including Kinosaki Onsen, is serious.

According to the Kinosaki Onsen union, "Go To Travel" was suspended, and during the year-end and New Year holidays when the second state of emergency was declared, a large number of cancellations occurred, and the amount of loss (from December last year to March this year) was 36. It is said to amount to 100 million yen.

During the mayoral election, the number of infected people increased rapidly in Hyogo prefecture, and it was a time when the government was considering requesting a third declaration.

Few citizens saw "gender gap elimination" as an election issue.

And on April 25th, what was the result of the ballot counting that was entwined at midnight?

Sekinuki Kuni Ichiro 21,256 votes

Chukai Soji 19,591 votes

Sekinuki won the head-to-head is, Chukai had suffered a defeat.

The voter turnout was 62.14%, an increase of 14.3 points from the previous election campaign, showing the high level of interest.

Nakagai spoke of the defeat.

"I didn't communicate enough about my policy. I haven't made enough efforts to close the gap."

New Mayor Sekinuki "I won't deny it ..."

"There are many citizens who have doubts about emphasizing the gender gap, and some citizens have other priorities," Sekinuki, who became the new mayor, said at a press conference when he took office. , Showed the idea of ​​changing the priority again.

It's been a month since I took office.

Sekinuki has a stance of keeping the Gender Gap Countermeasures Office alive and saying, "I will not deny it, but I will consider how to proceed."

After hearing with the citizens, related organizations, and each department of the city hall, he wants to determine how to proceed.

"(It was noticed) that it happened that Toyooka was the only city in the country to use the word" gender gap "as a policy of the city. Is there really such a problem among the citizens? I want to confirm the consciousness of the citizens. I want to bring the aspects of free medical expenses, financial support to children, and welfare to "people", and I want to do it first. "

"Now" or "Future"

Nakagai lost because the ideal of closing the gender gap did not reach.

It can be said that the citizens chose the "current life" that Sekinuki showed.

Nakagai is now spending time working in the fields.

"I complained that the future would be worse due to the declining population, but it seemed to be far from the daily life. Corona's evil circled it. The daily life of the suffering people. I don't think there was a problem as a leader.

”There are few people who deny the“ closing of the gender gap ”itself.

However, when it comes to doing it, it will be put off in my life and relationships so far, and before I know it ...

I think everyone has such an experience.

Three months ago, we started to get close to the efforts of Toyooka City, and we didn't expect the end of the story like this.

However, it is a fact that it is an opportunity for people in the city to think, "What kind of gender gap does the company have in the area, and what do we do?"

When I talked to many people in Toyooka, I felt the importance and difficulty of thinking about what kind of gaps there are around me and why they are problems.

I hope that the record of the trials of one local city will give many people an opportunity to think about their surroundings.

(Honorific titles omitted in the text)

The content of the article will be explained in detail in "Close-up Gendai +" scheduled to be broadcast on June 10 (Thursday).

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