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The problem of unmarried women working for low pay has received little attention since there is a widespread notion in society that women will be supported by their husbands after marriage. We should

13 Comments

Tomoko Noyori, professor of gender studies at Fukuoka Women’s University (Asahi Shimbun)

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In Japan, nearly all early 20-something women still live with mom and dad. For those young women, often close to 100% of their income is discretionary. Even at low salaries, they are able to spend lavishly and on average have much more money than single women their same age in other countries where people tend to live away from home.

Still, a relatively small minority of early 20-something women don't live with mom and dad, particularly among the university-educated population in Tokyo who came to the city from more rural areas to get an education, and after graduating chose not to return to their hometowns. If mom and dad aren't subsidizing their living costs, those young women are struggling to make ends meet, which results in quite a disparity between them and their relatively loaded colleagues.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Quite true what Sensato says in many cases but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The real monster in the room is that women are in general paid a pittance compared to men. Or they are placed in industries or occupations that are "for women" and thus low paying. Under paying an entire segment of your population isn't good for a healthy economy. Why would you bother going to university and trying for something big if the world around you thinks small?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

a widespread notion in society that women will be supported by their husbands after marriage

Are the husbands earning that much these days? I see some middle aged salarymen with broken shoes or threadbare clothes.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

This is easy fit by lifting the minimum wage to western standards. I know that Japan,s minimum wages is about the same has the USA but the USA minimum wage is supplemented by tipping. In most cases the tips will out do the wages earn during a shift. It is a a total disgrace that there is Japanese's living in poverty while Japan is one of the top 3 industrial nations of the world.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

problem is basically one CANY live off a minimum wage, this is WRONG imo!

One shud be able to live by working 40hrs a week on minimum wage, but all too often its not!

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Rather than expanding welfare, they should focus on raising the wages of women. Women should be paid equally to men. The problem is that women still aren't taken seriously in the workforce. The bosses feel what's the point of promoting or giving a raise to a woman, when in a few years she'll get married and quit. But there are many women who a) don't want to get married b) would rather get married later in life or c) would want to keep working after getting married.

@Sensato I always thought it was weird that women live with their parents for so long as adults. But wages are the biggest issue. I know many Japanese women who would prefer to live on their own but can't afford to, so they have to keep living with their parents.

@John-San you are misinformed about the tipping system in the USA. Tipping mainly happens in the restaurant industry. And in most jobs where the workers receive tips, they get paid lower than the minimum wage because it is expected that with tips they'll be able to make up the difference.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

exactly. Its not just single women- most people today cannot survive on their 9-5. They either need to do overtime or get a second job. That's the problem. We need a minimum wage where everyone can support themselves- old, young, male, female, Japanese and foreigners

2 ( +2 / -0 )

RealityofFake: So what you are saying is that in a country like America. There is a percentage of the work force paid lower then the minimum wage? How can that be. Could it be happing to the Japanese women in this article? I know of a 7/11 case in Australia were the Owners avoids paying minimum wage by making the worker pay back a % of the wage by blackmailing. Is it happing here. Japan have a non existing labour laws. This is due to the lack of workers union with no kanakas.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

So what you are saying is that in a country like America. There is a percentage of the work force paid lower then the minimum wage? How can that be.

It's pretty well known. Servers make much less than the minimum wage in most US states (I think that there are a couple where they get paid minimum wage, but they are the exception).

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Women should be paid equally to men.

@RealityofFake. Good point. And they need to be trained in manager / supervisory roles. Look at all the women who come straight out of college / university, but hit walls in japan's workforce.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

It's not just women on low pay in Japan. Everyone who is not on a salary job is going in to poverty in so called " rich Japan "

The minimum wage in Japan is a disgrace. No one can live a decent life on this wage and many ex salary workers are forced to work minimum wage and part time jobs without benefits.

One thing that really gets to me is how workers at these jobs are robbed of wages by having to set up their work up to half an hour before official starting time and to shut down in their own time at the end of the work day thereby working up to an extra hour each day for free.

The USA minimum wage is just as poor as Japan except that all prices for products and services are far cheaper than Japan.

Look to Australia and New Zealand with the highest minimum wages which allow a good living standard and these countries get along just fine even with the smaller populations. They don't have to pay in to a pension system like Japan which really is just another tax, and NZ has an accident compensation system and good health care.

Japan must rake in a huge amount of money from all their taxes. Where does it all go to ? definitely not to helping their own people.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

RealityofFake: So what you are saying is that in a country like America. There is a percentage of the work force paid lower then the minimum wage? How can that be. Could it be happing to the Japanese women in this article? I know of a 7/11 case in Australia were the Owners avoids paying minimum wage by making the worker pay back a % of the wage by blackmailing. Is it happing here. Japan have a non existing labour laws. This is due to the lack of workers union with no kanakas.

The employer is still required to make up the difference if the (wages + tips) doesn't meet or exceed the minimum wage. Tips or wages, they're fungible anyway since either way the employees are getting paid by the customers essentially. Just look at what happened when one New York restaurant owner got rid of tipping and made wages $12/hour or whatever: prices went up 30%. The customers are still footing the bill either way.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

nearly all early 20-something women still live with mom and dad.

Then, when they are no longer 'early 20', they marry or they die ? That's the point and you missed it. If a woman (or a man) is 30, 40, 50, single, divorced, widowed and no longer at parents... and on a low income.

The minimum wage in Japan is a disgrace. No one can live a decent life on this wage

It's not only in Japan. In most big urban zones in Europe and the US, the full-time minimum wage is inferior to the cheapest rent (even sharing with room mates) and people need to have cars. The only way is to live in subsidied housing (usually reserved to families) or being a 'support income' in a household. The single worker can't survive. That's not normal. That means the minimum is too low. The rule to fix it should be based on cost of life.

in a country like America. There is a percentage of the work force paid lower then the minimum wage? How can that be.

They can even do it without breaking the laws as they can easily make deals to pay people for the task, they say people are self-employed and being payed for a service (like Uber drivers...). But you have millions that are working in the far-west without any rules, illegal migrants, people living in cults, etc. The workers are not in position to refuse work even if they know it's under the rate. Nobody goes to check the employers because... everybody likes cheap stuff and services maybe.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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