On the 2nd, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare published an index of the gender wage gap by prefecture. The largest gap was in Tochigi, while the smallest was in Kochi. The analysis showed that wage gaps tend to be larger in regions with a low ratio of women in managerial positions or with a short average length of service for women. This is the first time that wage gaps have been indexed by prefecture.

The bill was submitted to a project team meeting for promoting women’s participation in the workforce, held at the Prime Minister’s Office on the 2nd. The government plans to accelerate efforts to correct disparities, such as by improving the workplace environment so that women can work long term and encouraging the promotion of women.

The wage gap is based on the 2023 Basic Statistics on Wage Structure, which examines the actual situation of people working in a wide range of industries, and is calculated by indexing the female wage level with the male wage level set at 100. The smaller the figure, the larger the gap. After Tochigi (71.0), the prefectures with the largest wage gap were Ibaraki (72.1) and Nagano (72.8). After Kochi (80.4), the prefectures with the smallest gap were Iwate (80.3) and Nagasaki (80.2).