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Thursday's shock resignation of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who altered the face of global politics when she was elected the world's youngest female head of state, throws a spotlight on the punishing demands faced by women in power.

Holding back tears as she made her declaration, the 42-year-old politician said she had next to nothing left "in the tank" and it was time to step aside after a challenging 5-1/2 years in office.

"Politicians are human," she said. "We give all that we can, for as long as we can, and then it's time. And for me, it's time."

But the remarks that followed were more revealing, said Anne-Marie Brady, a professor of politics at New Zealand's University of Canterbury.

Directly addressing her family in her speech, Ardern said she was looking forward to being around when her young daughter Neve started school soon, and finally marrying her partner Clarke.

"She was just very upfront and relatable," added Brady. "I think any young woman that has grown up in this era where we can have it all, yes, but actually we still have our heart connections to our loved ones."

Women have been liberated but "patriarchal institutions" have not evolved enough to support family life, she said.

"We need people like Jacinda Ardern in politics. So, her situation is cause for reflection about what we can do more to support women in politics, and men and their family life too," Brady added.

During her time in office, Ardern has not been afraid to break the mould, becoming the first prime minister since Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto to have a baby in the job and then take maternity leave.

A politician who campaigned on making tertiary education partially free, tackling child poverty and decriminalising abortion, Ardern has also called out blatant sexism in politics.

After meeting Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin last November, she dismissed a suggestion by reporters that their similar age and gender was the reason for the meeting.

"She shifted the face of politics globally just by being her," said Marian Baird, a professor of gender and employment relations at the University of Sydney.

"I think she has been a bit of a model for younger female politicians and perhaps even younger male politicians who want to present in a different way," she said. "Certainly she really challenges the male stereotype of being a prime minister."

'ALWAYS LED WITH HER HEART'

Despite her high profile globally, Ardern's popularity had waned domestically, hurt by rising living costs, growing crime and concern about social issues. read more

In the wake of her resignation she has been lauded as a leader who bought grace and generosity of spirit to the job, particularly amid challenging political times.

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark said Ardern had done an "extraordinary job" in leading New Zealand through major crises.

She delivered on a key social and economic agenda, and positioned the nation as one that "stood for co-operation and decent values".

"The pressures on prime ministers are always great, but in this era of social media, clickbait, and 24/7 media cycles, Jacinda has faced a level of hatred and vitriol which in my experience is unprecedented in our country," Clark said in a statement.

"Our society could now usefully reflect on whether it wants to continue to tolerate the excessive polarisation which is making politics an increasingly unattractive calling."

Cambodian opposition figure Mu Sochua said the world had lost a leader who commanded trust and respect, and "always led with her heart".

Yenny Wahid, a prominent Indonesian activist for women's rights and director of the Wahid Institute said Ardern's decision carried an important message for the next generation of leaders.

"She chose the timing of her own exit, she has different priorities at this point in her life. It shows the young generation that it's OK." (Reuters)

More than half of big Japanese companies are planning to raise wages this year, according to a Reuters monthly poll, meeting a key request from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to help workers cope with surging consumer prices.

Kishida's administration has repeatedly urged companies to make maximum efforts to lift employee pay, which has failed to keep up with the fastest inflation in 40 years. That push was boosted last week when Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing Co (9983.T) said it would raise wages by as much as 40%.

Ahead of spring "shunto" labour negotiations, managers at 24% of the companies polled said they planned on across-the-board bumps in base salary along with regularly scheduled wage increases. Another 29% said they would carry out regular pay increases only, while 38% were undecided.

"Prime Minister Kishida has been saying raise wages, raise wages, but the decision to hike pay isn't done on the words of a prime minister or president," said Masayuki Kubota, chief strategist at Rakuten Securities. "Rather it's because a company needs better human resources to achieve its growth potential."

"If the company isn't competitive, raising wages translates just to higher costs that will only worsen its situation," he added.

A total of 34% of firms said they planned wage increases of at least 3%, a jump from 10% in a Reuters survey in October.

While the survey focused on large corporations, the outlook remains less rosy for small and medium-sized firms that provide most jobs in the world's third-largest economy.

Smaller firms generally cannot increase pay, business owners, economists and officials say, because they often struggle to pass on higher costs out of fear of losing customers.

TAX INCREASES OPPOSED

The survey also showed that big companies are less eager to bear the brunt of another Kishida plan: unprecedented military spending to counter growing threats from China and North Korea. To help pay for it, the plan calls for corporate tax surcharges of 4% to 4.5% that would take effect from fiscal 2024 or later.

Among 495 firms polled, 54% supported the defence spending plan, but just 29% backed the increase in corporate tax rates.

"Without any explanation of how the increase in defence spending will be used, the policy to assign most of the burden on corporate taxes is totally unacceptable," said a manager at an industrial ceramics company, speaking on condition of anonymity. "This could put a damper on wage increases and capital investment."

Asked what expenses would be curtailed if corporate levies go up, the top answer was capital spending, at 42%, followed by dividends and wages.

In the Reuters October survey, 81% of companies said they approved of a substantial increase in defence spending, but just 20% said corporate taxes should be lifted to pay for it.

On the overall business environment, corporate managers turned slightly more pessimistic, with 81% saying conditions would be "not so good" to "bad" in the next three months, compared with 77% in the December survey.

"The weak yen along with higher raw material prices continue to squeeze profit margins," said a manager at a manufacturing company. "Although our company raised prices last spring and autumn, it wasn't enough to absorb the materials costs, so we plan to raise prices again this spring."

The Reuters Corporate Survey, conducted for Reuters by Nikkei Research between Dec. 23 and Jan. 13, canvassed 495 big non-financial Japanese firms on condition of anonymity, allowing them to speak more freely. (Reuters)

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dissolved the lower house of parliament on Thursday and called a snap election for March 19, his office said.

Tokayev had previously said he would dissolve the chamber, elected in 2021, after wresting power away from long-time leader Nursultan Nazarbayev last year and overseeing constitutional reforms.

Kazakhstan has had no genuine opposition parties in parliament for decades and, although party registration requirements have been relaxed under Tokayev, the legislature is likely to remain strongly pro-government.

In the election, 30% of deputies will be elected in single-mandate constituencies while the other 70% will be nominated by parties.

Tokayev last year resigned from the Amanat party, which dominates parliament, and said he would stay out of party politics. (Reuters)

North Korea's parliament has outlined plans to normalise industrial production and meet its economic goals this year, despite the "worst-ever upheaval" amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2022, state media said on Thursday.

The reclusive country's rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People's Assembly, held a two-day meeting from Tuesday to discuss government budget, economic policy and personnel changes, the official KCNA news agency said.

South Korea's central bank has said the North's economy shrank in 2021 for a second straight year after suffering its biggest contraction in more than two decades the year before, hit by COVID-19 lockdowns and international sanctions over its weapons programmes.

Leader Kim Jong Un did not join the meeting, but Kim Tok Hun, premier of the cabinet, reviewed last year's work and laid out tasks this year for key industries.

The premier lauded the country for "successfully tackling the worst-ever upheaval since the founding of the country" amid the COVID-19 outbreak, despite "shortcomings" in implementing last year's plans.

The cabinet aims to expedite the production of overall sectors and make 2023 "a year of great turn and change in the course of development" marking the 75th anniversary of the country's foundation, Kim said.

"It will make sure that the economic indices and 12 major goals to be attained by all the sectors of the national economy are carried out without fail," Kim said, according to KCNA.

He called for normalising the production of metal factories and reinforcing iron mines and steel plants, and for operating chemical plants "at full capacity" to accelerate construction projects.

The country will also take "strong measures" to supply equipment, materials and funds to boost coal production, Kim said.

In another KCNA dispatch on budget deliberations, Finance Minister Ko Jong Bom said this year's overall spending is expected to rise by 101.7% from last year, without specifying numbers.

Some 45% of the total expenditure will be allotted to promote the economy and the people's livelihoods, while defence spending would take up 15.9%, about the same as last year, Ko said.

"The state budget for this year should be implemented without fail to financially support the work for bolstering up the country's defence capability, developing the economy and improving the people's standard of living," Ko told the parliament. (Reuters)