Relative poverty up in Japan
Posted by Matt Dioguardi on January 19th, 2007
Article:Economic Survey of Japan 2006: Income inequality, poverty and social spendingSource:OECDComment: This is worth reading in full. Apparently relative poverty is increasing in Japan rapidly, and Japan now has one of the highest rates out of the OECD.
Japan is now one of the highest in the OECD area. Population ageing is partly responsible for boosting inequality as it raises the proportion of the labour force in the 50 to 65 age group, which is characterised by greater wage variation. However, the key factor appears to be increasing dualism in the labour market. The proportion of non-regular workers has risen from 19% of employees a decade ago to over 30%. Part-time workers earn on average only 40% as much per hour as full-time workers, a gap which appears too large to be explained by productivity differences.