January 7, 2021

The government will reimpose a state of emergency in Tokyo and the neighboring prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba as early as January 7, asking all eating establishments in these areas to close by 8 p.m. This state of emergency will further reduce customers and will cause more bankruptcies and business discontinuance, leading to an increase in unemployment. Women non-regular workers will particularly be hit by a further worsening of the employment situation.

The number of workers in the restaurant industry, as of November of 2020, fell by about 100,000 from the same month the year before, and 90% were women non-regular workers. The number of women non-regular workers in the restaurant business decreased for nine months in a row, and shows no sign of recovery.

According to private credit investigation company Tokyo Shoko Research, coronavirus-caused business failures in the food service industry with debts of more than ten million yen numbered 144 as of January 5 of 2021. It is highly likely that the government request to shorten business hours will further accelerate the increase in the number of bankruptcies and worker dismissals.

The need now is for the government to provide cash benefits so that eating establishments can continue their businesses and the livelihoods of restaurant workers can be guaranteed.

Past related articles:
> Job losses for women non-regular workers amid COVID-19 may cause sharp rise in women suicides [October 23, 2020]
> Amid coronavirus crisis, number of women non-regular workers decreases by 1 million [May 31, 2020]