The government sees a big change in the Japanese people's attitude concerning the use of separate surnames by married couples and plans to deal with the possible introduction of a two-name system with that in mind, the top government spokesman said Monday.
''The government will study the (two-name) system and deal with the issue appropriately,'' Fukuda said.
An advisory panel on gender equality to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori submitted a report to the premier Tuesday suggesting the launch of a two-name system for married couples and a change in the social security system to abolish discrimination.
The council urged the government to study legislation on the two-name system and review the social security system, which imposes different premiums on working and nonworking women and thus often discourages women from taking full-time jobs.