October 12, 2022

Akahata 'current' column

Minimum wage rates were increased on October 1 in all prefectures in Japan. For most people, however, the rates fall far short of making up for their financial losses caused by the ongoing price surge. Reportedly, as many as ten million people have remained in the low-income bracket for 16 years in a row. These "working-poor" people live on an annual income below two million yen.

Hit by soaring fuel and commodity prices resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many workers in Europe have taken to the streets, fighting for "wages to make a decent living".

In Germany, the federal minimum wage on October 1 increased to 60% of the median wage, 12 euros (about 1,700 yen) per hour. At the initiative of the German government, the increase in the living wage was implemented for the third time this year.

European countries have entered a new phase with a new EU directive that promotes adequate minimum wages. The new rule requires each government to set a standard for relative poverty at 60% of the median income. Based on that standard, each government should determine if its minimum wage is sufficient to ensure decent living standards.

German Labor Minister Hubertus Heil calls Germany's minimum wage "the minimum wage with which workers have no need to worry about falling into poverty". In contrast, wage hikes in Japan have been restrained, and even worse, real earnings decreased by 270,000 yen a year on average in these ten years. The trend in Japan is opposite to the world trend. To realize "the minimum wage with which workers have no need to worry about falling into poverty" is the responsibility of government.