Japan Press Weekly

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2013 February 20 - 26 [ECONOMY]

More newspapers agree on need of wage hike

More national and local newspapers have started calling for workers’ wages to be increased in order to end the present deflationary recession, just as the Japanese Communist Party has demanded all along.

The Mainichi Shimbun editorial on January 30 said, “To overcome the ongoing deflation, it is indispensable to expand consumer spending, which accounts for 60 percent of domestic demand. To that end, priority should be placed on increasing personal income by stabilizing the employment situation and increasing workers’ salaries.”

The Sankei Shimbun on February 19 stated, “Unless employees’ pay raises, it will not lead to recovery of consumer spending,” and, “Employers should respond from the broader standpoint of revitalizing the Japanese economy.”

The JCP’s proposal to utilize a portion of corporate internal reserves for wage increases is favorably treated in papers.

The Kyoto Shimbun on January 30 wrote that companies’ profits should not be just amassed but utilized for wage hikes and investments in human resources because that is the way to improve business performance and boost the overall economy.

The Tokushima Shimbun on January 31 pointed out that a wage increase is the key to boosting the economy and put an end to the ongoing deflation and that employers should recognize this need. The paper added that quite a few companies are amassing lots of money.