Japan Press Weekly

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2012 July 25 - 31 [ECONOMY]

Gov’t-recommended minimum wage falls short of boosting domestic demand

A subcommittee of the Labor Ministry’s Central Council on the Minimum Wage on July 25 issued its annual recommendations to 47 prefectures, calling on them to increase their regional minimum hourly wages by 4 to 5 yen in principle, far from reaching the desired level.

The recommended increase in the regional minimum wage given to 11 prefectures is higher than other prefectures because their regional minimum wages are lower than the amount received in welfare benefits. The subcommittee seeks to change the situation within two years.

The implementation of the recommendation will increase Japan’s national average minimum wage by 7 yen to 744 yen from the current 737yen.

An average 7 yen minimum wage hike per hour falls short of causing a decrease in the poverty rate and social inequality and a raise in the level of all workers’ wages for expansion of domestic demand.

The Democratic Party led government, the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), and the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) in 2010 agreed to achieve a minimum wage of 1,000 yen or more an hour on a national average at an earlier date within the next 10 years.

The Japanese Communist Party and the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) have demanded that the government raise regional minimum wages to at least 1,000 yen across the board without delay.

After the central council finalized the subcommittee’s recommendation on July 26, prefectural councils on the minimum wage will start discussions on the increase based on the recommendation.

Zenroren calls on its members to strengthen their efforts to press prefectural councils to increase regional minimum wages at levels higher than the recommendation.