Japanese Minimum Wage

 

The Japanese Labor Ministry agreed last week to target an average of 1002 yen per hour this fiscal year. While each prefecture sets its own minimum wage, the plan would bring the national average to above 1000 yen for the first time, with the government hoping higher pay will encourage consumption and economic growth. (The minimum hourly wage in the prefecture I live in has been 944 yen since October 2022.)

This change would drive up wages in the service industry, which faces  a constant labor shortage. The new rates are expected to be adopted around October. The government has sought to raise the average minimum wage of 1000 yen since the mid-2010's, but smaller companies have resisted, claiming to lack the resources to offer higher hourly wages. 

Other countries have recently put more dramatic wage hikes in place to counter inflation.  Romania raised its minimum wage by 17.6% in January; Australia by 8.7% in July; and Turkey, where inflation is over 15%, raised the minimum wage by by 34%. 

What is the minimum wage where you live? Do you think it is enough or should it be higher?

Minimum Wage and Bird Legs

The Japan Times online reports that the average minimum wage in Japan will increase 15 yen to 764 yen an hour in October. Each prefecture sets its own minimum wage.  Currently people on welfare earn more per month than those earning minimum wage in 11 prefectures including Hokkaido, Tokyo, and Osaka.  The increase will lift the wage above that of people on welfare in all prefectures except Hokkaido. According to http://stats-Japan.com Hokkaido’s current minimum wage is 719 yen per hour.

That bit of news started me thinking about what the minimum wage is in the US and other countries now. Washingtonpost.com reports that the federal minimum wage in the US is now $7.25, which is close to what 719 yen in Hokkaido is equal to.  The country with the highest minimum wage is Australia, which is $16.88 in USD. France is $12.09 and New Zealand $11.18 (in USD equivalents). On the lower end, Mexico is $.66 and India $.28. The article goes on to say that the US and Japan tie for having  the lowest minimum wage relative to the average worker’s salary, at 38%. The highest percentage goes to France at 60%, followed by New Zealand at 59%. (Australia isn’t on top because it has a higher average salary for workers, making its percentage lower). This article also notes that a large number of countries, including Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, and Switzerland, do not have minimum wages.  Most of those countries have widespread collective bargaining, which establish de facto minimums.

So anyway, I thought all of that was interesting.

Bird Legs
Our little stitch group was a little smaller this week because two members had things to do with their children, but the three of us who met worked on our projects. One person finished her beaded necklace.  Very pretty! 

The other two of us worked on our applique birds.

I gave my bird legs, using two strands of brown floss and the recently learned TAST stitch, the raised chain. I don't know if I'm done embellishing my little bird or not.