Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) Discloses Preliminary Budgetary Demands for FY2002

On August 28, the MHLW submitted its preliminary budget proposal for FY2002. In its proposal, MHLW has set aside an ordinary budget of 18 trillion 745.5 billion yen, an increase of 3.75% over FY2001.

Most of the increases come in social security and other "special structural reform demands" in information technology and the six other strategic sectors outlined in JIL Labor Flash Vol. 3. The increases take into account the government's report on interim structural reforms and employment measures, and come in ten broad categories, mostly concerned with the establishment of employment safety nets.

Specifically, the MHLW demanded a greater budget to deal with expected increases in unemployment coming from efforts to write off bad bank debts, create employment in the service sector, and realign the labor market to ensure a better match between labor demand and supply. The MHLW also seeks to develop better personnel training programs at universities, graduate schools, and NPOs to assist the emergence of Japan as a "human resource power" and to establish measures that will allow families to balance work and childcare concerns and "create a social environment in which women can raise children and still be able to live up to their full potential in the workplace."