Japanese women bear brunt of recession as virus unravels Abe's 'Womenomics'

The number of such "non-regular" workers posted its biggest drop on record in April, declining by 970,000 to 2.02 million. Women accounted for 710,000 of the decline

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has long made creating jobs for women central to his economic policy, but now women are suffering a bigger share of the pain as the country heads for its worst economic slump since World War Two.

Helped by a worker shortage, female labour participation hit a decade-high of more than 70% under Abe's campaign, often dubbed "Womenomics". The catch: many women lack the job security of male workers, with more than half holding vulnerable part-time, contract or temporary jobs.

The number of such "non-regular" workers posted its biggest drop on record in April, declining by 970,000 to