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Japan

Mar 24, 2005

Japanese youth out of jobs, schooling, training

TOKYO - Roughly 850,000 Japanese between the ages of 15 and 34 are not studying, looking for work, or in job training, and about 420,000 have no intention of being employed in the future, a Cabinet shows.

The figure translates into a 27% increase from about 670,000 a decade ago, according to the survey released Tuesday.

A white paper on the labor economy, which was released in September, estimated the number of these youths, who are sometimes called NEET (not in employment, education or training), at about 520,000.

The Cabinet Office survey, which recalibrated a 2002 Ministry of Internal Affairs survey on employment structure, shows a higher figure because it includes people who stay at home and help with household chores. These people are categorized independently from the unemployed under the traditional Japanese labor classification system.

The survey also tallied the 1.29 million unemployed young people who are looking for jobs separately from NEET.

The government is expected to step up efforts to encourage NEET to get jobs because it views the increasing number of young people who shy away from social participation as a potential hazard to the economy at a time when the population is aging.

An interim report released Tuesday by the Cabinet Office's committee on comprehensive measures for supporting young people's independence recommends cooperation among education, welfare and employment specialists as well as the establishment of a consultation system for NEET in addition to other things.

(Asia Pulse/Nikkei)

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