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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Wage gap between men and women increasing

A recently published Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry report on working women shows that wage gaps between men and women are increasing.

According to the report, women's wages in 2005 went down by 1.4 percent from the year before, while men's wages increased by 1.2 percent. As a result, wages for women workers are 65.9 percent of that of men's, 1.7 percentage points down from the previous year.

In large corporations, the gender gap in wages is wider than in smaller ones. In companies with more than 1,000 employees, wages for women are kept at 62.6 percent of that for men.

The number of women employees in 2005 increased by 260,000, reaching a record high of 22.29 million, accounting for 41.3 percent of all employees. Unstable employment such as part-time and temporary positions continues to increase, further reducing the women wage workers ratio to 47.5 percent.
- Akahata, May 15, 2006