Tokyo symposium highlights difficult labor conditions for women

TOKYO, May 30 Kyodo -
Labor conditions in Japan have deteriorated in recent years, particularly for
women, with the number of people in temporary employment expanding while their
wages remain low, panelists at a Tokyo symposium said Saturday.
Referring to the difficult situation for part-time workers, Mami Nakano, a
lawyer specializing in labor issues, said ''If those who work for less than 900
yen an hour wish to secure an annual income equivalent to welfare payments for
a single mother with several school-age children, they would have to work more
than 3,600 hours.''
''Given that it is said that working more than 3,100 hours a year would cause
death from overwork, part-timers with children must be prepared to die in order
to lead an independent life,'' she told the symposium held by the Japan
Federation of Bar Associations. ''Such situations have been left unsolved in
the labor markets in Japan.''
It was the second JFBA symposium this year on poverty involving women,
following one in March at which it was pointed out that the current economic
slump has hit single-mother households badly, with many such women working as
nonregular employees.
According to government statistics, the number of workers with an annual income
of less than 2 million yen rose to 10.23 million in 2006 from 7.93 million in
1995. Of these workers, women accounted for more than 70 percent. Among women,
16.5 percent earn 1 million yen or less a year and 27.1 percent between 1
million yen and 2 million yen.
Even among regular employees, the wage gap between men and women remains wide,
with women's wages standing at less than 70 percent those of men despite the
introduction in 1986 of the law concerning equal opportunity and treatment
between men and women in employment.
Midori Ito, co-chair of the Action Center for Working Women who has offered
consultations for female workers, pointed out that because of the current
economic slump and deterioration in the labor markets women are now accepting
jobs even if the working conditions are really bad.
''As the social security systems have collapsed, women cannot afford to lose
their jobs,'' she said.
The increase in the number of dispatched workers sometimes brings about
strained relations in the workplace, she suggested, noting that ''Now a
dispatched worker can supervise contract employees.''
More than one third of workers in Japan are nonregular employees, and it is
notable that more than half of all female workers are employed on an irregular
basis.
As a way to improve the capabilities of such laborers, another panelist, Koshi
Endo, a professor at Meiji University, said it is necessary to provide them
with job training.
''But this must be off-the-job training, and the workers should be guaranteed
lifetime security while they are involved in such training sessions,'' he said.
==Kyodo