[Marxism] Cost of economic 'stability' in Japan

[abu hartal <abuhartal@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Japan's "working poor" at risk as recession hitsWed Oct 29, 2008 8:45pm EDTBy 
Linda SiegTOKYO (Reuters) - When Miwa Takeuchi found out her part-time clerical 
jobhad been outsourced to a Japanese temp staffing agency and she'd have towork 
longer hours for lower pay, she was relieved. At least she was 
stillemployed.Three years later, Takeuchi, a single mother and one of Japan's 
growingranks of "working poor" who struggle to get by on annual income of 
$20,000or less, takes a darker view."When I thought about it, I realized that 
the more I worked, the less Igot," she said. "I started out as a regular 
worker, but ... over the pastdecade, I have just gotten poorer."Takeuchi is not 
alone.A decade of corporate cost-cutting and labor market deregulation 
hastransformed Japan's employment landscape. More than a third of allemployees 
are non-regular workers without job security -- part-timers,contract workers 
and temps -- and more than 10 million are "working poor."That's a sharp 
contrast from the 1980s, when more than 80 percent ofworkers had job security 
and most felt middle class.Now, as the global financial crisis sweeps over the 
economy, non-regularworkers risk being hit fast and hard, raising concerns the 
slump will besteeper and the impact more concentrated on the most vulnerable 
comparedto past downturns.The number of fixed-term workers at Toyota Motor 
Corp, for example, fellto 6,800 last month from around 9,000 in July-September 
last year inresponse to weaker demand, a spokesman for Japan's leading car 
maker said."In countries with a high level of atypical work conditions, in many 
casesprecarious working conditions, there is a much greater risk that in 
timesof recession these groups are hit first and most," said Michael Forster, 
asocial policy analyst at the Paris-based Organisation of EconomicCooperation 
and Development (OECD).POLITICAL AGENDAA 2006 report showing poverty in Japan 
had risen to one of the highestlevels among the OECD's 30 member countries, 
largely because of the gapbetween regular and non-regular workers, shocked many 
and helped put thetopic on the political agenda."Japan already has the 
fourth-largest 'inequality' levels of all majorcountries. Who would have 
predicted this just 10 years ago?" Ichiro Ozawa,the leader of the main 
opposition Democratic Party, said in a speech at arecent party convention."If 
we continue to ignore inequality, our economy will eventually stopfunctioning 
and Japanese society will collapse."The Democrats have made improving job 
security and shrinking income gaps akey part of their platform ahead of an 
election that must be held bySeptember 2009 and could come sooner.An OECD 
report this month showed income gaps shrank somewhat between 1999and 2004, 
mainly because the rich became less wealthy. Yet the reportstill ranked Japan 
fourth among its member countries in terms of poverty,defined as those living 
on less than half the median income.Not to be outdone, the ruling Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP) is promisingsubsidies for firms that hire so-called 
"senior freeters" -- part-time jobhoppers aged 25-39, many of whom graduated 
during Japan's 1994-2004"Employment Ice Age," when firms struggling with 
economic stagnation shiedaway from hiring."Companies can't just invest in 
capital goods. They have to invest inworkers too or they won't buy things," 
said LDP lawmaker Masazumi Gotoda,who helped draft his party's proposals.Such 
older "freeters," estimated to total nearly 1 million last year, havebecome 
what media call a "Lost Generation," trapped in unstable,low-paying jobs 
lacking unemployment benefits or health insurance."We have had a very rigid 
employment scheme in which recruits to largecompanies are limited to those who 
just graduated ... so those whograduated during the 'Ice Age' cannot get good 
jobs even when the economyrecovers," said Naohiro Yashiro, an economics 
professor at InternationalChristian University."LOST GENERATION"Among the most 
vulnerable are daily temps who find employment throughstaffing agencies and 
earn about 7,000 yen ($70) a day at factories,construction sites and in other 
low-skilled jobs."I never know whether I'll have a job until the evening 
before," one36-year-old man who works as a daily temp, mostly on delivery 
trucks, tolda recent symposium on the topic."A job might last a week, or there 
might be no work at all, so I don'thave a fixed monthly income," the man said, 
adding that he survives onlybecause he lives at home with his parents.Activists 
and labor lawyers argue that while the system helps companiesfine-tune 
employment in response to ups and downs in the economy, the costto society as a 
whole is heavy."At a micro-level, companies may feel that this is good for them 
to beable to adjust employment easily, but if large numbers of people 
cannotsupport themselves, social uncertainty will rise," said Shuichiro 
Sekine,secretary-general of a temp union."Many workers will have to rely on 
welfare, and that's a big loss forsociety overall."And though politicians talk 
of remedies, activists such as Chieki Akaishiof support group Single Mothers' 
Forum are wary."They've realized they must listen to such people or they can't 
get votes,but they aren't trying to change the fundamental social framework 
toinclude equal pay for equal work and equal treatment for regular 
andnon-regular workers," she said.(Editing by Megan Goldin)© Thomson Reuters 
2008.

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