Japan's jobless benefit conditions worst among industrial nations: ILO

Japan's jobless benefit conditions worst among industrial nations: ILO
Thursday 26th March, 06:43 AM JST

GENEVA —
Jobless workers who do not receive unemployment benefits account for 77% of all unemployed people in Japan, the highest proportion among industrial countries, the International Labor Organization said Tuesday. An ILO report that covers eight major countries including emerging economies said Brazil has the highest share of jobless workers receiving no benefits at 93%, followed by 84% for China, 77% for Japan and 57% for the United States and Canada. The share slips below 20% for France and Germany.

The high Japanese share of jobless workers receiving no unemployment benefits was taken to indicate that Japan has failed to develop safety nets for temporary and other nonregular employees while accelerating deregulation of temporary staffing services. Japanese labor ministry officials said the Japanese share may decline under employment insurance law amendments that are expected to pass the legislature within this month to ease regulations on unemployed workers’ eligibility to receive unemployment benefits.