• 
• 

[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the fifth meeting of the Headquarters for Creating a Society in which All Women Shine, at the Prime Minister's Office.

At the meeting, the 2016 priority policies for accelerating the promotion of active participation by women were determined, and discussion took place on the state of the enactment of the bill on promoting active participation by women.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,

“Today we have determined the ‘2016 priority policies for accelerating the promotion of active participation by women.’

Based on these priority policies, we will promote public-private collaborations and create an environment in which people can find a balance between working, raising children, nursing care, and other matters.

Specifically, we will take up opportunities like the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games to encourage private-sector companies to select business partners who promote work-life balance initiatives.

We will work together with the business community to promote the participation of men in housework, child-rearing, and nursing care.
We will also use Social Security and Tax Number cards to make it possible to handle various administrative procedures related to pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing all at once on the internet.

In order to make it easier to complete identification procedures for those who continue using their surname for work after marriage, we will advance preparations to make it possible to also list one’s pre-marriage surname on Social Security and Tax Number cards if a person should wish to do so.

In terms of support for those affected by the Kumamoto Earthquake, we will also strengthen our responses in consideration of household needs related to women and child-rearing.

I request that each Cabinet member formulate and implement detailed policies to support the active participation of women based on these priority policies.”