Abstract
IN a recent report of the Institute of the Science of Labour, Kurasiki, Japan (No. 29: (1) Sex-Ratio in the Population of Japan Proper; (2) The Influence of Industrialism upon the Mortality of Young People and Adults. By Dr. Sinzi Katuki. Pp. 30. Kurasiki: Institute for Science of Labour, 1935. 60 sen), Dr. Sinzi Katuki writing on the influence of industrialism upon the mortality of young people and adults shows that there is in Japan a close correlation between the female death rate in the age group 15-44 years and the rate of migration from the rural to the industrial areas. The death rate among women workers exceeds that of males in every industry except mining. Dr. Katuki concludes that these facts suggest the grave responsibility of industry for the heavy death rate of Japanese girls and young women, since in Europe and America, although employment of women is extensive, the female death rates are much lower than in Japan, absolutely and relatively to the male death rates. It would therefore seem that the high death rate of Japanese women in this age group is the result not of industrial labour in itself but of the bad conditions under which it is carried on and the insufficient protection of female workers. Recent statistics show a remarkable increase in the industrial occupations of women in Japan. Whereas formerly the great majority of women engaged in industrial employment regarded it merely as preparatory to marriage or only as a subsidiary means of subsistence, it has now frequently become their permanent and essential means of livelihood.
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Influence of Industrialism on Mortality in Japan. Nature 136, 429 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136429a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/136429a0