Due To COVID-19 Pandemic, Suicide Rate Of Working Women In Japan Soars

Japanese woman illustration. (Unsplash/Dovile Ramoskaite)

JAKARTA - Suicide among working women in Japan has spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, a government report revealed on Tuesday.

The government-approved white paper on suicide prevention shows the number of suicides among women increased by 935 to 7.026 in 2020, public broadcaster NHK reported.

This is the first time Japan's suicide rate has increased in two years, the report said.

"This suggests that the conditions could be due to changes in working conditions caused by the spread of the coronavirus infection," the report said, citing Yenisafak.

In contrast to women, the suicide rate among Japanese men fell by 23 to 14.055. "This is the 11th straight decline". A total of 21.081 people ended their lives in the island nation last year, an increase of 912 from 2019.

Japanese illustration. (Pixabay/thepoorphotographer)

"This is the first year-on-year increase since 2009. The previous increase followed the 2008 global financial crisis," the report said.

The greatest increase in suicides among working women was seen in "employees, who work in offices, provide health care, or provide other types of services."

"There is an increasing number of cases where changes in the work environment, and relationships with others at work, are cited as possible reasons or motives for the woman's suicide," the report said.

To note, Japan as the third-largest economy in the world has reported more than 1.72 million cases of COVID-19, including 18.275 deaths.

Meanwhile, the country's economy, which has been stagnant for decades, was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic which forced the government to announce several stimulus packages.