Women are paid less -- part-time jobs

The wage gap between men and women is prevalent among part-time workers
as well as full-time workers.

This was shown in the findings of a survey conducted in March and April
by the New Japan Women's Association in 33 prefectures, including Tokyo. The
NJWA announced the result on November 5.

Of the 227 women respondents, 50 percent said that their yearly average
earning is 1.22 million yen less than men doing the same work and that
standards for promotion are not made public.

In the finance and insurance sectors, women's wages are based on a
different scale from men from the time they join the company. They are
usually barred from in-house job training courses.

On the other hand, women in the manufacturing industry are told to do
late night work in the name of women's equality under the revised Equal
Employment Opportunities Law.

Among part timers, women are paid less than men. In a comparison of an
hourly wages for such workers in transport industry, men are paid 820 yen,
women 720 yen.

Among women workers, the wage gap also exists between full time workers
and part timers. A comparison based on an hourly wage basis shows that a
full-time nurse is paid 1,290 yen while a part-time nurse gets 1,000 yen.
Comparison in other industries shows that wages for part timers are always
lower than for regulars.

What is worse, corporations now squeeze costs for regular employees under
the influence of rampant corporate restructuring. Thirty percent of the
respondents said they underwent a change of wage scale in the last three
years. (end)