Japan Press Weekly

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2024 February 14 - 20 [LABOR]

Female non-regular government workers paid less than 40% of male regular government workers’ wages

Women working in non-regular (i.e. contingent) positions of employment at government ministries and agencies receive 37.1% of the wages of male regular government employees. This was shown in calculations which were made by Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Tamura Tomoko’s office based on government data released in 2023.

The calculation results also indicated that the pay gap between regular and non-regular government employees stood at 43.9%.

Among government ministries and agencies, the Finance Ministry had the largest gender pay gap. In the ministry, wages of female non-regular (contingent) employees were 82.5% lower than those of male workers in regular positions. The Justice Ministry was the second-largest pay gap: female non-regular workers receive only 27.7% of that for female regular workers, followed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (30.8%) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (36.7%).

Tamura brought up this matter at an Upper House Budget Committee meeting on November 28, 2023. Describing it as indirect discrimination against women, the JCP lawmaker urged the government to take measures to eliminate such discriminatory treatment of women workers.

The JCP in its economic recovery plan demanded that each corporation fully disclose the wage disparity between its male and female employees; that corporations draw up and publish their plan to correct gender wage gaps; and that the government establish a system in order to instruct and encourage corporations to implement their plans.

Past related article:
> JCP publishes economic revival plan [September 29, 2023]