The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare confirmed on Wednesday that unemployment benefits that were being paid to around 1,300 victims of the March 11 disaster will stop at the end of this month, after the government denied a petition to extend them.
Many victims lost their livelihoods in the coastal areas of Iwate, Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, after the devastating tsunami struck the region on March 11 last year. Following the disaster, unemployment benefits in certain coastal areas and in the exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were granted a special extension.
Last October, 1,307 residents in the region petitioned the government to extend the unemployment benefits because work was not available, but the labor ministry said this week said that it would not extend benefit payments, TV Asahi reported. It is thought that a further 2,700 recipients will lose their unemployment welfare payments from next month.
Last October, the ministry extended the first benefit period by 90 days for unemployed people in 55 municipalities in Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures. At that time, Labor Minister Yoko Komiyama said that further extending unemployment aid would not motivate the jobless to look for work. She said the government would take steps to help unemployed people in the Tohoku area find new jobs.
Job seekers in the area say that although there has been an increase in the number of positions available in the construction industry due to a number of projects starting to rebuild the area, these positions are only suited to the skill sets of a fairly small proportion of residents, TV Asahi reported.
The ministry says it is hoping to revive the agriculture, forestry, fishing and manufacturing industries in order to provide stable employment for those who have lost their benefits.
© Japan Today
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Onniyama
But of course.
namabiru4me
Yep...good time to START thinking about it...
some14some
when? within 40 years...or is it "as soon as possible?"
MaboDofuIsSpicy
This is true because everyone knows that the Japanese are not hard working at all and want everything for nothing.
smartacus
It's interesting to hear Komiyama's view that handing out jobless benefits would not motivate unemployed people to look for work. That is exactly what my dad and grandparents used to say. I wonder if it is a generational thing. In those days, nobody took charity for nothing. They worked unthinkable (by today's standards) long hours and in harsh economic conditions.
Unfortunately, a lot of people in Tohoku need to be retained. But how do you teach a fisherman or a laborer another trade? What if someone has no computer skills?
The best hope is that reconstruction projects will spawn a lot of new industries, so hopefully the barbers, bakers and tradesmen will still be needed.
Utrack
This is really unfortunate, families have lost lives and livelihood due to the tsunami and then you have TEPCO and the evacuations. It's rough all round.
Samantha Zoe Aso
And only today we had an article about the suicide rate in this country, now this. It's not like these folk are lazy goodfornothings, lazing around all day sponging off the State. We're talking about people who lost homes, family, livelihood. Probably a lot of them aren't really in a healthy emotional state to resume a fully balanced life. What is the government actually doing to really get down to it and help these people? I heard from a friend who is amazing and has been out there working on clean up and he told me the locals are basically trying to get on with it themselves.
j4p4nFTW
This is regrettable, but unfortunately necessary. Japan's public finances are not in good enough shape to extend the welfare state. People will have to move to where the jobs are, which should help get some people out of these disaster prone areas. Plus the government will have to spend a considerable sum on the reconstruction effort, that will put further strains on public coffers. At the same time, we must secure larger tax cuts for high net worth individuals and job creators here in Japan in order to spur economic recovery and development.
Dennis Bauer
look for what jobs?
tkoind2
Rather than spending donation money on whaling, Japan should have spent it on extending benefits.
Exactly what jobs are these political idiots expecting people to get in communities that are GONE? Not everyone can do construction. Not everyone can move to another city and take up another job, especially in this depressed economy. And this is before we even consider the exclusionary practices of age and sex disrimination in Japan for job seekers.
j4p4nFTW. Just so you are clear, when these people fall into abject poverty, guess what friend? They end up on a completely different kind of national benefit. So your belief that cutting them off to help public finances lacks any grounding in reality. It just displaces them from one dole to another.
If you are sincerely worried about Japan's public finances, then you should be in the streets protesting how the government is wasting tax money on countless waste, graft and useless things. But I suppose it is easier to just toss out a few disaster victims than to face of the real problems.
hatsoff
So poor Taro Suzuki, who has been a salaryman all his life, pushing paper in an office, has his survival money cut off because he won't accept a job as, say, a welder? Bad move by the government. Bureaucrats and red tape at their worst.
issa1
This is the true minshuto !
cactusJack
to do list:
wake up look for job that does not exist go back to sleepglobalwatcher
What are they supposed to do without jobs? Die?
They need to live as well as those J politicians who live comfortably in 1st class most updated Nagatacho housings. Sell all of them to feed those who are in need. Japan, this is so disgraceful.
gogogo
Perhaps they should have used that money spend on whaling research to give to these people. Seems just wrong and the government is trying to forget these people.
nath
Globalwatcher.
Unemployment benefits(not social welfare)like in most countries are set to a given length. If you haven't found work, etc you can get/claim social welfare given certain parameters. And given the recent government figures many opted to do so. Tokyo saw a 200.000 increase alone last year.
As was said not easy to find work now unless you are in within certain age/sex/etc groups. FYI, any foreigner with PR can also claim those same benefits and many needed to do so.
Even with Social Welfare there are rules and requirements not an easy nor luxurious life. Not a free-handout.
moomoochoo
Offer benefits to those people willing to relocate to places with higher employment rates.
MaboDofuIsSpicy
@cactus
Perhaps they do not even have a bed, and it is hard to sleep when you and the family are hungry and cold.
issa1
Minshuto has need to save money to help neighboring countries in financial difficulty. Is unbelievable that they have the courage to spend the money Japanese taxpayer with the rent of bear panda, currency swap with korea, purchase of treasury bonds Chinese,etc,etc,oh yes, it necessary a lot of money it for this purpose.
j4p4nFTW
tkoind2,
I think this is a very interesting suggestion, but a few questions: 1) Doesn't protesting instead of going to work drive down the nation's GDP? 2) Isn't protesting without a permit illegal? 3) I'm not sure what you mean by "countless waste, graft and useless things." Countless implies the amount of waste and graft is infinite, which I'm pretty sure is impossible. What do you think is the actual value of the "waste, graft and useless things?"
Cletus
Hmm the Japanese government cant support people who's lives where turned upside down by this natural disaster but they can spend tens of millions on other programs. Money that was initially earmarked for recovery efforts, so l guess pride is more important than welfare in Japan. What a sad sorry country this is.
nath
This stupid! Stupid shameless government of Japan!! Nasakenai yo!!!
nath
Hrm, wondering how many people actually live in japan and are aware of the true situation. And what government budgets gets used for what.
j4p4nFTW
Cletus,
Rebuilding the whaling industry is part of the recovery effort. This directly creates JOBS rather than puts people on the dole.
Samantha Zoe Aso
Appreciated there are time limits on benefit availability but we are talking about extenuating circumstances here. These folk did nothing wrong. They didn't get fired or made redundant with a lump sum. A tsunami washed their lives away. Surely there must be some recognition of that at some level.
And maybe if the government tightened the belt on other less pressing agendas, that would leave more money available to help get the north back up on it's feet.
Cletus
It"S ME
Yeah l wonder! Also wonder how many have been here to long and have lost their ability to question what they are spoon feed by the government. Really how much would it cost to continue to support these people for a bit longer. The area still isnt fully cleaned up yet, business not replaced housing not rebuilt yet they are cutting off financial support already.
nath
Sam.
The government did provide shelters(food and housing) and more. What do you want a government to do realistically and that comes out of whose pockets?
I don't see how any other country could have done better(mine couldn't), should the evacuees be given jobs over other job-seekers and more preferential treatments?
Tell me how they could have done better without compromising laws, etc.
Moderator
Readers, whaling is not relevant to this discussion.
issa1
Is incredible passivity of the Japanese people. If this happened in any other country in the world people go on to the streets to protest. The bastards of the dpj party knows this weakness of japanese people.
nath
issa1.
Protesting gives you a job and puts money into your account? Huh? It won't, didn't work for the OWS crowd and never has done so across the ages.
Governments get money from collected taxes, etc = a finite amount.
MaboDofuIsSpicy
Why do most of you mention about rebuilding in those areas. You want the next tsunami to take out the remaining populous?
They will get on the welfare line next, and need to be helped into moving to new locations for work. So many of these people do not want to move. Well, then cut them off.
Elbuda Mexicano
@Issa1, I agree, just imagine, say South Korea and if they had this kind of disaster and their government did not help them out?? Boy oh boy, they would not be sitting around like the Japanese saying, SHOUGA NAI NE, etc.they would be fighting in the streets for their rights!
tkoind2
"1) Doesn't protesting instead of going to work drive down the nation's GDP?"
Why on earth would people protesting downgrade GDP? Be serious at least. It would do people here considerable good to take a more active role in their political and economic welfare. Two political parties have consistently failed the people of Japan. The problems are obvious to most, yet movement to resolve these problems is not happening. Rather we have a revolving door policy for PMs that serves no one.
People can and should protest and raise their voices. They should take up political action, form new parties or whatever it takes to establish governance that works.
2) Isn't protesting without a permit illegal? You presume that people cannot organize and plan legal demonstrations? Why?
3) I'm not sure what you mean by "countless waste, graft and useless things." Again, this is silly. Of course I do not mean infinite. But we are well aware of waste in Japan's government. You are welcome to do your own leg work here. But one recent example is the dispersion of relief funds to whaling.
And I would remind you that Japan's corporate tax policies are a leading reason that jobs are not coming to Japan but instead ending up in other parts of Asia. And yet where are these funds going and to what end?
nath
IMHO, too many people today see the government(any) as an all-powerful being with infinite resources that can and will do anything for them when they want it to do so.
Hrm, socialistic expectations? Worked for Katrina, Somalia, Sumatra, etc, etc?
paulinusa
All the billions this government squanders and they can't help 4000 people? Some of them could end up destitute without these payments.
j4p4nFTW
marcelito,
Yes! Spot on! I agree with you 100%! And plenty of money is already being devoted to these efforts. For many folks, however, it makes sense to rebuild the industries they were working in. We have funds allocated for both.
nath
So ... the unemployed would become unsupported. And during this time, the government will be "hoping to revive the agriculture, forestry, fishing and manufacturing industries in order to provide stable employment for those who have lost their benefits". I just love the government official's use of the past tense lost.
j4p4nFTW
There are times like these where it seems to be an inflexibility that perhaps slows down the government from making a decision. However, in this case, as the decision to divert funds to prolonging unemployed benefits would be the morally wrong decision (because it's not fair to extend benefits on one subset of the population and not the rest, and the government needs to remained focused on tax cuts for the job creators), the rule is fortuitous.
GW
How about this, ditch that stupid NIGHTMARE Farm run by robots & use that $$ to help these people.
The yakuza & politicians are pilfering billions earmarked for the recovery as I type right now & these people are about to even more worse off soon, OMG!
tokyokawasaki
What happened to all the money to rebuild Tohoku?
Surely they should start buy donating the money to the victims/families so they can rebuild their lives. At the end of the day, it is the people of Tohoku who will rebuild it, so give them all the support they need. How are the worst hit victims supposed to survive after losing their home and employment? Most still have to pay their mortgage (home loan) and car loans (which got destroyed). Unfortunately for these people the disaster continues everyday, while those in government continue their warm, lazy, selfish and glutenous lives.
J Gov, once again you have demonstrated you are run by cold-hearted and moronic self-centered idiots... You disgust me...
j4p4nFTW
There is PLENTY of it! Money is not going to be the problem. It's the allocation to the correct government agency.
nath
tokyokawaski.
Different things.
Unemployment's benefits are for everyone that paid into the system and Tohoku, etc already got a 90day extension.
These days you need to pay in for 1yr(deducted from salary) before you can receive benefits(used to be 6-months) and we get 6-months(and no extensions).
How much should those benefits be extended? 2yrs+, etc.
Those are NOT social welfare payments.
BurakuminDes
I'm sure no-one is shocked at this. Meanwhile, grub Noda is enjoying all the benefits of being the highest-paid leader of the developed world. He will never have to worry about any disaster affecting his massive salary for the next 20-30 years that he is alive.
nath
zichi.
Playing devils advocate.
Why should they receive 3 yrs benefits when other under the SAME only receive 6 months and everybody paid the same into the scheme?
gifu
Why not take all the money donated to or allocated for the Tohoku recovery, split it up among the people living there, give them a two-year inome tax holiday and then let them make their own decisions ? Some would start new businesses, some wold go back to school, some would build a new house, some would move to work in another area, and some would drink it way. But none could be as heartless or unthinking as the politicians and bureaucrats making these decisions.
warnerbro
There are plenty of jobs in the region. They'll fit you for a nice white jumpsuit and mask and put you to work straightaway.
oberst
Labor Minister Yoko Komiyama said that further extending unemployment aid would not motivate the jobless to look for work. ............................
sounds like a page out of the Republican playbook. Don't you just love the conservatives ?
billyshears
Parts of Osaka are pretty much the same!
GW
itsme,
well lemme take a stab at'er ok. EARTHQUAKE, TSUNAMI, NUKE MELTDOWNS, LOCAL ECONOMY DESTROYED! I wud hazard thats not your typical situation where one finds themselves outta work, thats why I wud be HAPPY to see my taxes go to help these people, pretty simple huh!
nath
GW.
Agree not the same situation, neither was katrina, etc and they already had a lot of extra help(tax-payer money). Neither not disagreeing with you but how much help is enough? And how far should they be carried? 1yr, 2yrs, etc.
How far can the government bend the rules and extend benefits to a few before the rest are annoyed?
That is the point there needs to be a cut-off point at some time and standard government services need to take over.
FYI, I got friends who are katrina survivors and they are still fighting for monies, etc today.
billyshears
Of course, you definitely can't compare the horrific loss of life factor. But many in Tohoku will eventually be compensated for a lot of their material loss. There are those in Osaka who have never had anything material to lose.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/22/japan.socialexclusion
kurisupisu
The people in Fukushima are being ignored by an incompetent government . But why should we expect anything different when we look at what the true definition of 'government' is?
To govern does not mean to take care of people, does it?
kurisupisu
Being down and out AND irradiated might mean a quicker demise?
I wonder if that might be unofficial government policy here because the Japanese government's inaction sure speak louder than words!
Jannetto
Ah, problem solved! Everyone leave town, or what's left of it, to places with tons of jobs (must be lots of those) - then you won't need to rebuild, because there'll be no one left, just a bunch of old folk who haven't got long to go anyway. Hurrah!
Equality
You know what's even more disgraceful than all the government housing properties sitting empty, and all of the graft, slush funds, and other public money that the government pockets and pisses away every year? It's the BILLIONS of dollars that were donated by people in Japan and around the world to help support the victims of the earthquake and tsunami. You know where most of it is? Still in the possession of the Red Cross, other charities, and semi-governmental agencies; slowly being wasted on task forces, committees, and consultants who are studying how to distribute the money. Now THAT'S disgraceful!
Samantha Zoe Aso
It's Me- I can see where you are coming from. I can but there's no way you can compare these people to folk who lost their jobs due to downsizing or a company going bankrupt. I personally know a gentleman who lost his wife, 3 kids all under 5, his business, his house, possessions. All swept away. He didn't do anything. He just woke up one morning and Fate's demotion ball pounded his life to smithereens. He is an emotional mess. He is barely functioning. He is everely traumatized. Do you think he is the only one in this hellish situation? I know you don't. Should he have his benefits cut? I know I am using an extreme example here but thousands died. So much has been lost through absolutely fault of their own. Meanwhile, the past year the government here have been more preoccupied with power battles over Prime minister candidates, relocating much needed funds to save facing projects, unable to reach a consensus on tax reforms, while continuing their own cosy little lifestyles.
7 panels have been set up to study the North Korean hostage situation. Whilst I do feel for te families involved, is it really necessary to spend taxpayers money on 7 panels. If I had a say, I'd much prefer one productive panel and the rest to go on Tohoku. Never mind all the other under the table bid rigging construction practices going on around Japan as I type.
Again, I know what you are trying to say but we'll have to agree to disagreebon this one.
nigelboy
Then what?
If you done any research on the matter, the people that are mostly unemployed use to work in the fishing industry.
Fishing industry jobs!!!
http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/news/20120110k0000m040114000c.html
「1月末で(失業手当が)切れるのだが、求人は重機の資格や経験が要る仕事がほとんどで、自分に合ったものが出てこない」。妻と4歳の娘を抱える岩手県大船渡市の元水産加工会社従業員、佐藤敬人さん(35)は漏らす。
"My unemployment benefits expired end of January and the job offerings are mostly for people who have qualifications in operating heavy machinery and therefore, doesn't fit my experience" stated Mr. Sato (35) a former fish processing worker in Iwate who has a wife and a 4 year old daughter.
That was the whole point about the central government passing the budget submitted by the Fisheries Agency. ASSISTING THE RECOVERY OF THE FISHING INDUSTRY.
Samantha Zoe Aso
Yeah but Nigelboy. What percentage of the affected folk....I'm talking about tsunami victims and those displaced due to the ongoing nuclear plant situation are involved directly in the fishing/whaling industry?
Is it 'mostly'? I do know there is a lot of heated dialogue currently on how exactly the fishing industry is to be revived in those areas? What about the people who lost their homes due to evacuation?
Samantha Zoe Aso
Okay Nigelboy- Just checked and yeah the fishing industry is the biggest industry but no mention of whaling specifically. Interestingly, I also read that most of the fishing businesses are owned by seniors with no family to pass the business onto. Plus, allocating such funds would be detrimental to other industries. Looks like a major restructuring is inevitable with the smaller family businesses loosing to a larger conglomerate.? Also, there is the issue of contamination in the area. Again they are all victims but can the amount spent 'bodyguarding' the whaling ships be justified when so many are in limbo and now the government cuts benefits?
You quoted, I presume a fisherman's words. He too is now caught in a financial dilemma. Do you agree that his benefits should be stopped?
gelendestrasse
I seem to recall that unemployment in Japan (including those who gave up looking) is as high as ever. Have the fishermen been retrained? I think the circumstances are still dire enough to allow an extension.
nigelboy
We're talking about jobs lost correct since the subjected is Unemployment benefits.
Can't say exactly how much but if read the article I cited, it briefly explains the ratio of 一般事務員や販売業、食品加工業は0.2~0.3倍台と大きな開きがある。
In other words, for every 100 job postings in this sector, 500 are applying in this sector.
This is explained in the below link where it states that the ratio decreases along the coastal area because of the "mismatch" in jobs offered (construction) versus qualifications (fish/food industry workers).
http://www5.cao.go.jp/keizai3/2011/1221nk/pdf/11-2-1-2.pdf
As to the fishing industry damage, 319 fishing ports were damaged of which 22 fishing market is completely gone. 570 fish processing plants completely damaged, 140 under water, 113 partly damaged.
A lot of heated dialogue by whom?
nigelboy
.
To those who worked in the ports and the processing plants, the answer is YES. To a "few" that are miles and miles away from these coastal areas, and have no "SENSE" of what is really needed in this area, and was not directly affected by the disaster, the answer is NO
keika1628
Of course, you definitely can't compare the horrific loss of life factor. But many in Tohoku will eventually be compensated for a lot of their material loss. There are those in Osaka who have never had anything material to lose.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/22/japan.socialexclusion
Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of london
CVHuan
This is so disappointing for a 1st world, advanced country of Japan.
sfjp330
The main driver of joblessness remains the difficulty of finding work. A year into recovery, there are still many workers for every new job opening. Such intense competition reduces the odds that a given worker will be hired and increases the length of time he will expect to be out of a job. Nonetheless a reminder that something is deeply amiss in Japan labor markets. Given the slow present pace of recovery, Japan risks the creation of a class of the structurally unemployed.
Japan’s present labor market policies cannot deal with this. A simple system of unemployment benefits served the country fairly well in the past. But the system has been overwhelmed by current unemployment, and is ill-equipped for the job of putting the long-term unemployed back to work. Japan will need to adjust its strategy.
globalwatcher
blah, blah, blah, I hate to read post like this listed above. Apparently, you do not understand how the unemployment benefit works. Working people in Japan have been paying in for this INSURANCE for years. The government has enough savings in different pocket for the payout. It is nothing to do with the restration of Tohoku. Remember, the unemployment saving is in a DIFFERENT POCKET. The govt can afford to extend it for them. Bologne!!
LH10
T.T really?! do you're best Japan!
jforce
Did the government miss the boat on relocation? Yes. Are these people of Tohoku in need of a handout? Yes. Take matters into your own hands and try to find a family that needs your help and directly help them with what ever you can. There are always jobs and there are always good people out there with a sense of aiding their fellow humans.
ReformedBasher
I think Samantha is right in saying that victims of a natural disaster are a lot worse off than the mainstream unemployed (I was one in my youth and vouch it's not easy)
But It"S ME is right about people expecting the goverment to perform magic tricks. Yes, a lot of money is mispent but at the same time, the government did not cause the disaster to happen and they did not just sick back and do nothing either.
I think they're better off getting the local economies going again to create jobs than to just hand out money (not saying the recipients don't deserve a helping hand though)
j4p4nFTW
When one speaks the truth, they can expect such replies.
I don't think the Japanese government has mispent much money at all on the reconstruction efforts. The biggest criticism thus far would be that things seem to be moving a tad slowly, though we really should hold off on such criticism.
Unemployment insurance is paid by workers, but the government cannot simply take money from another source and move it towards unemployment benefits. This is not legal. And it's not legal for a good reason.
I think the real problem here is that no one knows where to draw the line. How do you determine who lost their job because of the disaster and who didn't? Many cases will not be clear cut, and there are bound to be people who try to game the system. There is also the possibility that foreigners might apply for unemployment benefits, which we also are uncomfortable with. When such a situation arises, the government in its wisdom will rightfully choose not to go ahead with such a risky program.
globalwatcher
You still do not get it, don't you j4p4nFTW?
The govt does not have to transfer or add anything extra. The employment insurance jar is still filled with money. C'mon, this is only for 2700 jobless people in Tohoku. You guys do not take care of your own people who are in need. Shame. Japan is the 3rd economic power in the world while they cannot take care of only 2,700 people?This is very disgraceful. We are reading everything what you guys are doing from the other side of globe.
You just do not stop the benefit in a middle of winter time. Once the weather improves in spring time, there would be construction works, and the business start hiring..
FYI, here in US, jobless people over 1.3 millions are still getting the unemployment benefts up to 98 months (2 years), we take care of our own people who are in need. We are glad to do so unlike YOU.
j4p4nFTW
globalwatcher,
Thank you for your reply and your measured thoughts on the issue at hand. It is important that we have an open discussion on issues such as these so that we may come to a full understanding of the issue and a mutual agreement on my position. The real trouble here is determining who is actually eligible for extended benefits. Because this is difficult and some fraud could possibly take place, it is best to not engage in such a plan at this time. But if there are political points to be won on the issue, something may happen.
So?
YuriOtani
Save TEPCO by giving them trillions in yen but the average person is just out of luck. The government is spineless and only only caters to the needs of the rich and their American masters.
almostshat
Maybe the needy could pop round to Ozawa's pad and ask for a few squid, sorry, quid; sorry, yen, from under his mattress!
nigelboy
There are construction works already in which many positions aren't filled due to lack of qualifications of the current unemployed. This is the "mismatch" problem that the government had alluded to.
What the government is saying is that those unemployed that received 90 day extension based on where they reside will not be extended. This does not mean that those unemployed cannot appeal for a longer extension on an individual basis.
Ranger_Miffy2
Maybe there should be an Occupy movement...Occupy Kudanshita, Occupy TEPCO. Not sure an Occupy Fukushima would fly, though!
Wolfpack
Wow, what a great idea! Sit around in a tent and occasionally bang loudly on a drum while your family starves. The government will surely swoop in and fix all of their problems. Yep, just wait around and everything will work out just fine. No worries.... just sit around and wait for all the good things to happen...