I wrote in a different thread some time ago: "If all moms and dads stop changing diapers for a day, the only ones who get sore are babies, whereas strikes, even slowdowns, at several strategically important industries (like cargo transportation) for a day will indeed wreak havoc on profits. Wage labor and unpaid work for social reproduction have very different relations to capital." So, women (and men to a lesser extent) can't slow down their unpaid work of social reproduction and hope to have a direct and immediate impact on profits, very unlike, for instance, a slowdown of longshoremen and other workers who labor to produce goods or services, especially in the private sector. Nevertheless, capital is at bottom dependent upon women's willingness to give birth to future workers/consumers, and many women's refusal to do so (especially when it is not compensated by immigration and other measures) begins to have an impact on the conditions for capital accumulation over time.
The Post-WW2 economic boom came hand in hand with the baby boom, mutually reinforcing each other for some time; deflation and falling birth rates, I think, have and will reinforce each other as well. "Britain is among more than 60 countries, accounting for two-fifths of the world population, with a birth rate under the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. In 2006, Japan is set to be first to begin the descent, but others could easily follow" (@ <http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4348775,00.html>):
***** Japan has an ageing population with a low birth rate. Already by the 1980s, the average life expectancy of the Japanese was the highest among OECD countries, and this factor alone means an ageing population. In addition, smaller families have become the norm in an urban society, with fewer people supported by the self-employed, including farmers. More and more families depend on employed workers. This tendency is further augmented by rising educational levels, increased female labour force participation, the trend towards later marriage and/or the decision to remain single: all of these factors contribute to the phenomenon of a declining birth rate. Total fertility has declined from 1.7 children in 1986 to 1.43 in 1996, and a further decline is anticipated. In 1995, the number of new graduates entering the labour force began to decrease for the first time, and it is expected that the total workforce and then the total population will begin to decline by 2005 and 2010, respectively. In other words, national institutions have to cope with the transition to an ageing society with a declining birth rate within a period of about 20 years. Western European countries have been making this adaptation over the past 50 to 100 years. Moreover, the much increased labour force participation of women has meant that the social functions traditionally assumed by families and communities (often cited as Asian characteristics) have waned. Thus, there is an urgent need for childcare, nursing for the sick and elderly, and pension schemes for retired workers.
Therefore, Japan has to become a welfare state in the context of stringent budget constraints due to the significant decline in economic growth. While the need to develop welfare schemes at a faster tempo is widely recognized by the Japanese public, there is a parallel debate on the crisis of the welfare state, as was experienced in Western European countries some time ago.
<http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inst/papers/1999/dp106/#I.1.2> *****
The power elite in Japan have so far responded to "the crisis of the welfare state" by (1) employing more women and older workers, (2) increasing part-time employment ("The ratio of part-time workers, mostly women, to total workers rose from nearly 10 per cent in 1980 to around 20 per cent in 1995," <http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inst/papers/1999/dp106/#I.1.2>), and (3) cutting pensions and social programs. (2) and (3), however, have exacerbated the government's inability to lift the economy out of deflation.
To present an alternative to the power elite's response, left-wingers need to develop a women-centered political program. -- Yoshie
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