The post-bubble era in Japan, which has seen the country struggle to find positive directions for the past 15 years has left a permanent mark on the generations that will eventually be at the country’s helm in the decades to come. The emergence of freeters, part-time workers who cannot (or choose not in some cases) break into full-time positions, and NEETS, people who Not in Employment, Education or Training, emphasise the growing inequalities in a system that once delivered middle-class to nearly all people.
The emergence of this harsher system and it’s by-products (from increased suicide among young adults to violent crime and beyond), is something not likely to go away. In fact, it appears that this situation will continue to become more prevalent across society in the years and decades ahead.
One interesting article from Japan Echo, Japan’s New Misfits, takes a look at this situation:
There is no question that conditions are harsh for young adults trying to get a foothold in today’s society. Although the ratio of young people to the population as a whole is declining, unemployment remains high. Most troubling, perhaps, is the increasing number of young people, mostly male, who are dropping out entirely. Genda Yui, featured below in a dialogue with Saito Tamaki, has borrowed the British acronym NEET’s or “Not in employment, education, or training” to describe this breed. This is a category that is defined in economic terms, but many of the young men to whom it might be applied are psychologically troubled recluses, shutting themselves up in their rooms for months or years and often shunning contact even with family members.
Read whole article on Japan Echo.
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