gap

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Window-dressing cannot hide widening gap in income
Akahata editorial (gist)

The Cabinet Officeﾕs monthly economic report published on January 19 said that the widening income gap is no more than a statistical matter.

Supporting this view, Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro said that the view that the income gap is widening is based on a "misunderstanding" of the matter. Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Takenaka Heizo also argued, "It is wrong to say that the 'structural reform' policy is leading to a widening income gap."

The fact, however, is that poverty and social disparity are actually increasing.

The number of households living on public assistance increased from 600,000 in 1997 to 1,000,000 in 2004 Students receiving public assistance to study also increased by 6.2 percent in 1997 to the present 12.8 percent. Ten percent of households had no money savings in 1997, but the latest survey shows that the percentage swelled to 23.8 percent in 2004.

In the name of the "structural reform" agenda, "neo-liberal" policies have brought about a widening gap between rich and poor by forcing the public to pay more and helping large corporations and wealthy people make as much profits as possible.

The Koizumi Cabinet has promoted corporate restructuring and job cuts, and contributed to a sharp increase in the number of unstable non-regular low-paying jobs. Nowadays, about a half of all young workers are non-regular employees. In contrast, a money-game boom sparked by the deregulation of financial services and securities has allowed "alchemists" to make more money at the cost of ordinary investors.

In fact, the Cabinet Office itself last May reported that the income gap in Japan began widening in 1997. Especially, the income gap among young people is growing at an alarming pace, equivalent to that during the period of the former British Thatcher administration, the queen of "neo-liberalism."

Lightheartedly denying the widening of income gaps, the Koizumi Cabinet is a cold government, not a small government. Let's fight back at Koizumi's law of the jungle, the "structural reform" policy, with the force of solidarity of all section of the people!
- Akahata, January 24, 2006