Japan Press Weekly

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2016 December 14 - 20 [LABOR]

Number of low-wage non-regular female workers is increasing

The number of non-regular female workers whose annual income is less than two million yen increased by 2.33 million between 2002 and 2015, Akahata reported on December 15.

The Labor Ministry’s labor force survey shows that the number of employees rose to 56.32 million in 2015, up 2.95 million from 2002. This increase is mainly attributable to the growth in temporary employment. The number of non-regular workers went up by 5.29 million, while that of regular workers went down during the same period.

Of the 5.29 million non-regular workers, 3.24 million are women and more than 70% of these added female workers earn less than 2 million yen a year.

An improvement in the employment situation, if it is only in non-regular job openings, will not help working households become better off. In addition, many women have no choice but to accept low-wage, unstable jobs. The facts clearly indicate that the Abe government has done little to achieve his commitment to creating a society where “all women shine”.