Japan Press Weekly

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2014 September 24 - 30 [LABOR]

Number of ‘working poor’ exceeds 11 million

Data the National Tax Agency published on September 26 reveals that more than 11 million workers in Japan earned less than two million yen last year.

The number of workers whose annual income was below two million yen, the so-called working poor, increased by 300,000 to 11.2 million after the second Abe government was inaugurated in 2012. As many as 4.22 million so-called working poor earned less than one million yen.

The working poor category accounts for 24.1% of Japan’s entire workforce, up from the 17.5% in 1998. In contrast, those who annually earn between four million yen and eight million yen, the middle income class, decreased by 10% compared to 15 years ago.

The government of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo plans to further expand the use of non-regular employment, which will inevitably contribute to an increase in the number of the working poor.

Past related articles:
> Zenroren holds rally to eradicate public sector working poor [April 15, 2014]
> Number of working poor remains above 10 mil level for 7 straight years [October 1, 2013]