日本の非正規雇用の増加と多様化 -その実態と背景-

Abstract

This paper looks at non-regular employment in Japan focusing on how and why it has increased and diversified over the last 30 years. The proportion of non-regular employment in Japan was 36.7% in 2013, a 21.4 point increase from 15.3% in 1984. In breakdown by gender, the proportion of female non-regular employment was 55.8% in 2013, while that of males was 21.2%. The employment type of non-regular employees has diversified with the change of the economy. Until the 1990s, the vast majority of non-regular employees were female part-time workers and Arbeit. However, since the late 1990s, the proportion of dispatched, contracted and entrusted employment has been increasing. The increase and diversification of non-regular employment is influenced by various factors. Companies increased non-regular employment in order to reduce labor costs, to adjust employment to suit the business cycle, to allow flexibility of the work force to cover busy periods of the day particularly in the service industry, which is continuing to grow in Japan. Attitudes toward non-regular employment are changing among the workforce too. More women are taking on non-regular employment in addition to raising children, as well as an increasing number of over 60s taking on work, largely due to Japan's ageing society. The taxation and social insurance systems which involve tax bracket "walls of 1,030,000 yen and 1,300,000 yen", have served to further encourage part time work among women. Promotion of secured stable employment for elderly citizens through such means as increasing the mandatory retirement age and implementing continued employment system of older people increased the male elderly non-regular employment.