Four frustrating attitudes women in Japan run into when interviewing for jobs, grouped by age

Japan has no nationwide law against asking job-seekers how old they are

The does no wrong crowd is suspiciously silent.

Misogyny under another name. So foreigners are the lesser evil to employ.

I don't think asking someone their age, or expecting an applicant to state their age, is actually illegal in most countries.

I grabbed four countries to check:

Australia: Appears to only be allowed to be asked if age is relevant to the requirements of the job - such as serving alcohol:

If you’re a particular age. Generally, your age is irrelevant, says McRostie, but where age does pertain to the specific requirements of the job, such as the service of alcohol, questions about age can be asked. Once you’ve secured the role, an employer will need to know your date of birth for taxation, superannuation and remuneration entitlement reasons, which is perfectly lawful.

Link: https://www.seek.com.au/career-advice/can-a-hiring-manager-really-ask-that

Canada: Age is expressly prohibited, though it is allowed for situations are "relevant to the candidate’s ability to perform the job for which they are applying".

Link: https://www.kcyatlaw.ca/illegal-interview-questions/

USA: Mostly illegal for those over 40:

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), protects individuals who are 40 or older from being discriminated against in the workplace in favor of younger employees. There is no federal protection in place to protect workers younger than 40 from age discrimination. To determine if you are legally eligible to perform a job, employers are allowed to ask if you are over the age of 18.

Link: https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0910/8-things-employers-arent-allowed-to-ask-you.aspx

UK: Allows asking, but not by those doing the hiring:

You can ask someone their date of birth on a separate equality monitoring form. You should not let the person selecting or interviewing candidates see this form.

Link: https://www.gov.uk/employer-preventing-discrimination/recruitment

This is horrible. Of course we know most women never get pregnant and those few who do, it never inconveniences their employers because of all that government support they get to cover costs and issues.

And men? Well they got it easy! Pretty much all they do is show up and nap at their desks! Now if they were stripped from their families and forced to move to other prefectures and countries for years, that would be something!

Good bit of research, by the way - you looking for a job in that area?

Not exactly, but I generally try to set our own hiring standards to be in line with what those we are hiring are used to. So I wouldn't ever ask a foreigner's age when interviewing - even though it's legal here, it could put up the hackles of the interviewee.

Although the situation is probably a bit better in the west, youngish female employees in particular (25yo to say 40yo) are still frequently being 'discriminated' against. Sure there is no direct "how old are you? You single? Planning on having kids in the next couple of years?" questions during the interview process but employers do talk/speculate about the candidate's age, marital status, kids/not, single mum/not etc afterwards (not with HR though ;). In a team of say 10 ppl, you don't want to have 4-5 newly married (or in long-term relationships) but childless women aged 28-35yo (esp in countries like oz where staff turnover is already a massive issue) and a couple of young mums.

Same re senior management/international roles, you may be reluctant to give an apac job that requires frequent travel to a (potentially) 40yo single-mum (at the very least this would be 'discussed' with the candidate's previous employers during reference checks).

The -imo main- pbm in Japan is that most women, regardless of their marital status/age/track record/talent/job performance/experience etc aren't given the same opportunities as men. Intelligent, talented, hard-working young/not-so young women with no desire or intention of ever having a child - or with kids but well-organised & with perfect attendance etc- are imo the real victims here.

Things women hear when trying to change jobs:

Age 23-26: “You don’t have enough professional experience for this position.”

Happens to guys too, we have to remember that a lot of people men included have just graduated University, or trade school and dont have that much experience.

Age 27-30: “So, are you married? Hmm…so will you be taking maternity leave soon?”

Legitimate question a lot of women in this age group get into either a job or better position then get pregnant and then go on maternity leave, leaving everyone else to pick up their work load.

Age 31-35: “Ah, so you have young children. Are they still little? I see…”

Another legitimate question, when there are kids in this age employee's missing work rises because the kids are ill or there is no one to look after them.

Age 36 and above: “You’re already this old, but you don’t have much work experience, so we can’t really offer you a position…”

Goes the same with guys, a person shouldn't apply for a job that needs high levels of experience.

A lot of things in life require a trade off, if a person wants to be a corporate ladder climbing that's must be prepared to work long hours and sacrifice their personal life to get somewhere, that's the same with having a family if a person takes time off they have to be prepared to miss out at work.

That there is discrimination against women in job interviews means that Japan is a normal country relative to, for example, Britain.

Do a search on "interview discrimination women uk" as I just did and you will learn that it is common in Britain.

There is a consistent pattern in comments to Japan Today articles in which a statement that there is X in Japan is interpreted as meaning X exists only in Japan and everywhere else is better.

Age 31-35: “Ah, so you have young children. Are they still little? I see…”

"Another legitimate question, when there are kids in this age employee's missing work rises because the kids are ill or there is no one to look after them."

The reality is much worse than that. It's not just a case of the mother missing work because her child is ill, the mother may have to miss work because the other mothers in the PTA like to have sessions and commitments during office hours. A mother may also have to miss work because she is looking after her non-ill child during a class shutdown. This can happen due to as few as four or five other kids in the same class being ill. Based on my experience , I would say there is an 80% chance of a class shutdown (gakkyu heisa) happening during winter at my kids' school. For working parents, that means scrabbling to find a caregiver for the following day.

Until schools and pre-schools are run in a way that frees parents to work without OTT demands, you cannot unilaterally blame employers for not wanting to employ the prime caregiver of any child, usually the mother. The main obstacle to the mother working is not employers, it is mothers who don't work giving zero support to those who do.

"There is a consistent pattern in comments to Japan Today articles in which a statement that there is X in Japan is interpreted as meaning X exists only in Japan and everywhere else is better."

This sentence should be modified as follows: "There is a consistent pattern in comments to Japan Today articles in which a statement that there is X in Japan is interpreted BY ME ONLY as meaning X exists only in Japan and everywhere else is better."

How you interpret other people's comments is far from universal and actually very, very unusual.

all things they cant ask you here in Canada . Hell , they arent even allowed to ask your age .

don't think asking someone their age, or expecting an applicant to state their age, is actually illegal in most countries

They can't in the UK, and a good thing too. Many companies no longer ask the sex of the applicant and some even forgo names to prevent prejudice getting in the way of the right person getting the job. One large financial institute no longer asks which university the applicant attended. The degree and level is more important. Stops Oxbridge bias.

There is a consistent pattern in comments to Japan Today articles in which a statement that there is X in Japan is interpreted as meaning X exists only in Japan and everywhere else is better.

No. That is you reading this into every article. There is zero here to suggest this only happens in Japan. The article merely points out that this is typical in Japan. That this would be of interest to readers is unsurprising, being that we live here; therefore it affects us.

The wife of a friend of mine told me that ever since she got married, job hunting has become more difficult. All the hiring managers assume she isn't serious about her career, and that she will quit in a few years.