The JIL Labor Flash Vol.25
Email Journal 15.08.2002
Statistical Reports
Main Labor Economic Indicators
Current Topics
Average life span of the Japanese people extends further
Public Policies
A Revised Health Insurance Law bill is passed...etc
News Clippings
Hourly wages of students' part-time work hit an all-time low...etc
Special Issue
Minimum wage of this fiscal year and overview of Japan's minimum
wages
[What's New in our English website]
Statistical Reports
-Main Labor Economic Indicators July 2002-
http://www.jil.go.jp/estatis/eshuyo/200207/econtents.htm
Current Topics
-Average life span of the Japanese people extends further-
According to an announcement by the Japanese government, the average
life expectancy of the Japanese population, already the longest in the
world, broke all previous records in 2001. The average life span for
men reached 78.07 years (0.35 years longer than the year before) and
that for women reached 84.93 years (0.33 years longer than the previous
year).
Needless to say, infant mortality rate is extremely low in Japan.
Despite steady advancements in medical technology, however, Japan
reportedly has one of the largest number of bedridden elderly in the
world.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2001-2003/2002b/vol.25/lifespan.html
Public Policies
-A Revised Health Insurance Law bill is passed-
On July 26, the government passed a bill for the Medical System
-Related Law that included the revision of the Health Insurance Law.
The revised law to be introduced in April 2003 focuses on (1) raising
the share of medical expense payments by individual salaried workers
from the current 20% to 30%, and (2) a total remuneration system which
would mean collecting premiums also from annual bonuses at a percentage
equal to the one currently applied to monthly salaries.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi insisted that enactment of this
Medical System Related Law was necessary to develop and promote Japan's
medical insurance system on a sustainable manner, and that it would
alleviate people's "pain" and burdens when seen from a long-range
perspective. Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) and other
labor unions, however, opposed enactment of this Law, pointing out
that the revision jeopardized the entire medical treatment system
because it simply imposed additional burdens and payments on the
Japanese people in general and patients in particular, without
indicating the entire content of the reforms. Members of labor unions
carried out sit-in demonstrations in front of the Diet and other
activities.
At present, elderly individuals aged 70 and over must pay 10% of
their own medical expenses. Starting in October, however, the
contribution rate will be raised to 20%, and the preferential treatment
programs which the elderly had thus far enjoyed will be abolished.
These preferential treatment programs included (1) setting a cap on
monthly personal medical payments, and (2) bearing a fixed amount to
cover their medical expenses.
Although the primary aim of this new law is to rescue the declining
finances of the medical insurance system, some expect it to simply
prolong the life of insurance finances by five more years. A new
system of medical treatment for the elderly is slated to be established
by fiscal 2004, and a basic policy must be set up by the end of March
2003. To do this, the Prime Minister must demonstrate powerful leadership
to iron out and reconcile differing views, and to suppress opposition.
-The Tokyo Metropolitan Government to host intern students-
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will host university students to
work as interns once again this year, a program it launched in FY2001.
A total of 85 graduate school and university students from 36
universities will undergo training from two weeks to one month in
August. Members comprise five graduate school students (two from
national university graduate schools and three from private university
graduate schools) and 80 university students (eight from national
universities, 15 from public universities, and 57 from private
universities). The goals of the internship program are to increase
participants’ motivation for, and awareness of, work, and to make
them more interested in, and understand, the metropolitan government's
affairs and operations.
Although the pace is still slow, internship programs are recently
making positive strides in Japan, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's
activity is an example of this growing trend.
News Clippings
-Hourly wages of students' part-time work hit an all-time low-
A survey conducted by the Center for Domestic and Foreign Students'
Tokyo Student Living Guidance Office, an organization that finds
part-time jobs for Japanese and overseas exchange students, showed
that students in the Tokyo metropolitan area earned an average 1,109
yen per hour in June. The amount was lower than the same month of
the previous year for the thirteenth consecutive month, and the
lowest since the survey began in 1998.
The survey investigated the hourly wages of seven jobs that the
Center handles in Tokyo and its suburbs, including clerical work in
companies and teaching at cram schools. Although companies have been
reducing the number of regular workers and hiring more part-time
workers to replace them, they are recently under pressure to cut
personnel expenses even further. As a result, part-time workers are
increasingly likely to be dismissed or to have their pay reduced.
1US$≒\118(August 2002)
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, July)
-Sharp drop in temporary workers being dispatched to corporations-
The Japan Staffing Services Association found that the number of
temporary workers dispatched from January to March of this year by
22 of Tokyo metropolitan area's leading temporary employment agencies
rose only 2% over the same period last year. The number of workers
dispatched in March, especially, was up by only 0.5% over the same
month of the previous year, showing that the market is becoming tougher
than ever before. A total of 321,671 workers were dispatched between
January and March of this year.
Until August of last year, the yearly number of temporary workers
dispatched in the Tokyo metropolitan area continued to increase by
over 20%. However, ever since the increase rate fell under 20% for
the first time in September 2001 after the terrorist attacks in the
US, it has continued to drop each month. The low-growth trend became
even more pronounced after January of this year.
The situation in the Kansai region is even gloomier. Since January
2002, the number of temporary workers has already posted a negative
growth rate. A total of 124,800 workers were dispatched between January
and March by 25 of Kansai's leading temporary employment agencies.
The number was 2.4% lower than the same period of the previous year,
posting the first year-on-year drop since the survey began in 1999.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, July)
Special Issue
-Minimum wage of this fiscal year and overview of Japan's minimum
wages-
Japan's minimum wage system was established based on the Minimum
Wage Law. Under this system, the government determines each year the
wages which enterprise owners must minimally guarantee in order to raise
the working conditions of low-wage workers, and to ensure the stability
of their lives. Minimum wages come in two types: region-specific minimum
wages set up by each region, and industry-specific minimum wages that
apply to laborers working in specific industries.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2001-2003/2002b/vol.25/minimumwage.html
[What's New in our English website]
Survey on Work and Life among Expatriates in Japan
-Survey Results May 2002-
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/library/sr_expat.html
This survey is in the form of a questionnaire focused on foreign
expatriate employees working at foreign-affiliated companies in Japan.
The intention was to clarify the working conditions, living environment,
degree of satisfaction, and so on, of foreign dispatched employees
working at foreign-affiliated companies in Japan. This publication is
a translation of the survey report published in Japanese in September
2001.
